PLANTS FOR PROBLEM AREAS

PLANTS FOR PROBLEM AREAS

Helianthemum

My life in the gardening world has taken me all round the country. This has given me the experience of working with a huge variety of soils, sites, climates and problems which had to be solved with a suitable plant cover. Some sites around the coastal areas were very dry with soils containing a lot of sand; others down south were shallow and overlying gravel beds or chalk. In the midlands there is a lot of deep but fertile clay soils in the country areas but many industrial towns had no soil what so ever. It was normal practise to buy in top soil for our landscape works in the Midlands, and the north east had stiff heavy clays that could hold too much water. Some coastal areas suffered a lot of wind exposure and salt sprays which could desiccate the leaves of vulnerable plants. The south east (the fens) has a lot of flat peaty soils reclaimed by draining, and some areas around Manchester have very deep peat soils with drainage problems. In Scotland we have a lot of boulder clay soils left over from the last ice age, but when well managed they can be very productive. However our country is not flat so we have the added problems of dealing with gardens on a slope. Shade from buildings and tree cover needed solutions. Building often created wet shade while trees often created dry shade, as the roots absorb moisture from the soil which is then lost through transpiration from the leaves.

Cistus Silver Pink

Most plants are very tough and adapted to growing in their own environment. It was our job so sort out the best plants for each situation. I worked as a garden designer for large scale local authority projects, but also got involved at individual garden level. Whatever the location, soil, or problem it was our job to find plants for all these situations.

Many areas exposed to the coast can suffer gales as well as salt spray. We all see the affect of this salt damage on grass verges along the highways after winter as the road salt usually kills out vegetation a few feet from the kerb. In gardens we can plant up those plants known to tolerate wind and salt to some degree. Escallonias, broom, sea buckthorn, holly, willow, eucalyptus and tamarix, and at ground level use pinus mugo, senecio, rosemary, lavender, delosperma or euonymus and for flowers the shrub rose rosa rugosa, cistus and red hot pokers will all have a place.

Red Hot Pokers

Most of these plants can also be used on soils away from the coast but still suffering from dry conditions. Other favourites can include the hardy outdoor fuchsias, all kinds of heathers, cotoneasters which vary from ground cover to small trees, gorse, and for the exotic garden try the yucca, New Zealand flax or the palm tree, Cordyline australis.

Many gardens suffer steep banks that make maintenance a problem so we tend to plant them up with ground cover which also smothers weeds. Heathers, camellias, dwarf rhododendrons and evergreen azaleas are useful but if the garden gets too much shade you can use variegated ivy, euonymus, London Pride, dwarf pines, pernettya, mahonia and viburnum davidii. However if the steep banks get a bit of warmth and sunshine this allows another range of plants. Flag iris, Helianthemum, the dwarf rock rose, senecio, hardy fuchsias and flag iris will all enjoy a steep well drained bank in the sun.

Outdoor fuchsia

Wet soil problems vary from damp soil to ponds and each has its own range of plants adapted to the degree of wetness. Cornus, willows, aronias, ornamental elderberries, bamboos, spiraea and snowberry are all fine as long as they do not get too much waterlogging.

Wee jobs to do this week

All fruit bushes and trees can benefit from a mulch of rotted manure or compost about two inches deep. Make sure all weeds have been removed before spreading the mulch. It will conserve moisture and add nutrients as it rots down. The plant will also benefit as surface feeding roots will not be disturbed or killed by hoeing. The mulch is also useful under gooseberry bushes to assist prevention of sawfly maggot infestations.

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SPRING IS ARRIVING

SPRING IS ARRIVING

At long last the rains have stopped and the soil surface is beginning to dry out. The last week of February was a real bonus with dry sunny days and just a slight frost over night to firm up the soil surface. Winter digging has now been completed, and all my entire compost heap used up, but the beginning of the new one has got a start. Kitchen waste is always available, and grass cutting has now begun. Add to this the wood shredding from the prunings of all the roses, raspberries, currants, saskatoons, gooseberries, brambles and grape vines. Our allotment site shredder is having a busy time just now, and the shreddings are perfect for the compost heap or as a mulch under some fruit bushes. They are also useful on paths to keep weeds down for the season.

Iris reticulata

The sunny days brought on the spring flowering bulbs and although the aconites and snowdrops are past their best, the crocus are now taking centre stage. A small batch of Iris reticulata planted a few years ago is now beginning to form a strong drift of colour that will thicken up each year. Anemone blanda planted about ten years ago is now appearing in many different borders, probably from seed mixed in with the old leaves and collected for the compost heap, which then gets spread all over the garden. This plant is not invasive so we just let it grow where ever it wishes and the drifts of bright blue flowers at the end of February and into March are always a welcome sight. My ground cover yellow saxifrage is now in flower as soon as it senses

Primulas ready to plant

spring is approaching.

Outdoor plant tubs and hanging baskets are always liable to plant losses especially as the winter has been so wet, but garden centres and many other outlets are just full of spring bedding flowers at very reasonable prices, so go for some of these and top up the tubs and baskets and find a few extras for gaps in borders. Primroses, polyanthus and pansies are all looking great at point of sales as most of them will have spent winter under glass or in the protection of poly tunnels.

Garden centres and numerous supermarkets are now stocking fruit trees and bushes as we head into spring. I have seen a lot of plants for sale in Dundee that are just not suitable for our climate. Scotland is colder, wetter and has less sun than the south of the UK, so some plants that are just fine in the south are just not suited to a cooler climate.  Always check out the variety before you buy.

Saxifrage

My new bramble (blackberry) Reuben gets brilliant reviews with immense sweet berries so I thought I must try out this primocane type. This means it gets cut down to the base every year and fruits at the end of the new shoots produced in the same season. Planted a year ago and cut down to a few inches it soon produced a couple of shoots. However these did not flower till November so I had little chance of seeing any berries. Last year was a rotten year so too early to judge. This year the winter has been very mild so my bramble has been growing for a few weeks, only to get the young soft shoots frosted by a couple of degrees of frost. Still too early to judge.

Seed potatoes for the allotment are now all boxed up for chitting and placed in a cool but frost free room near the window. Hopefully the young shoots will emerge but remain stocky and be ready for planting out towards the end of March or early April depending on weather at that time.

White Orchid

Rhubarb crowns are now all swelling up and looking very promising. The mild wet winter seems to have done them no harm at all.

My cold greenhouse is rapidly filling up as plants get transferred from windowsills and other seeds get sown. Begonias are still at home but will need to go out in a few weeks time.
Indoors, the white Phalaenopsis orchid is in full flower. They are great value as they last for weeks.

Wee jobs to do this week

Geraniums grown from cuttings last autumn as well as stock plants dug up and potted into large pots are now all putting on a lot of growth. Some are getting too big for windowsills. I have transferred the strongest looking ones to my cold greenhouse to harden off, but to keep them short jointed remove the tops and use these as a batch of cuttings. They root easy but need warm conditions indoors on a shady windowsill.

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BEGIN SEED SOWING

BEGIN SEED SOWING

Looks like spring is coming early this year, or maybe the garden has awoken earlier due to lack of a winter. Although it has been very wet under foot the temperatures have been mild so the garden plants have not been hanging back. Aconites, snowdrops and crocus have all been showing flowers for several weeks, and it looks like the daffodils and tulips won’t be far behind, so it is time to get the show on the road and start off with the seed sowing. I make a start at the beginning of March to sow my tomatoes, onions, peppers, broad beans and sweet peas, and my tuberous begonias will get boxed up and given some heat as they need a long season. However my plants are for general use. If you are an exhibitor you will have started a couple of months ago to get the advantage of a longer growing season. We all have adopted our own system for sowing early crops. As my greenhouse is not heated, I rely on having plenty of warm windowsill space for germination.

Sowing tomato seeds

Broad beans and sweet peas are both quite hardy but need warmth to germinate. I sow broad beans individually in cellular trays with 15 pots of 7cms size to a standard seed tray. Sweet peas can also go in these cellular trays, but a slightly bigger pot will give a better crop when you put three seeds in each pot. Once these have germinated and grown on for two to three weeks they can be put in the cold greenhouse for a few more weeks before planting out at the end of April. After several leaves have formed pinch out the main stem to encourage branching. If you wish to grow them as cordons for bigger flowers then select the strongest shoot once the new growths emerge.

Tomato seedlings ready to prick out

Onions are sown in smaller cellular trays of 40 cells per tray and germinated in a warm place. Seeds are sown individually but if two or three seeds land in a tray just leave them to grow. You can pot up these plants into the next cell size later on or just plant as soon as they are hardened off. Do not separate plants if some cells have two or three plants together. They will be going into well manured ground that is very fertile as they are heavy feeders. This year I will try Globo.

Broad Beans

Tomatoes and peppers are sown into shallow seed trays and both these need warmth at all times. Sow thinly so seeds remain stocky, then prick out into individual pots before they get too big. Mind you it is easy to sow thinly when there is only ten seeds in the packet. No chance of sowing half the packet this year and keep the rest for next year. This year I am growing my favourite Alicante plus the yellow Sungold and my best cherry, Sweet Million. They will always need heat and good light so do not be in a hurry to transfer them into a cold greenhouse unless it is lined with bubble polythene and you have a heater handy if frost threatens.

Boxing up tuberous begonias

Tuberous begonias can now get boxed up with good compost and placed in a warm place. A dark corner is fine for a few weeks as they are quite slow to grow, but once the shoots emerge bring them into the light. I start mine off spacing them quite close together then once I see where all the shoots are I transplant them into bigger boxes and give them more room. As my corms are now about twenty years old they are a fair size so this is a good time to split the corms as long as each section has a couple of strong shoots. I just use a big knife and chop them up to no harm.

Wee jobs to do this week

Strawberry plants bought from nurseries are often fresh dug in the autumn, but cold stored for planting in spring. Although they don’t look great without leaves, the crown is strong and once warmer weather arrives they soon burst into growth. There are now so many new varieties that it is always interesting to try something new. This year I will try out a new early strawberry Sweet Colossus and a new Everbearer called Albion to extend my season. My existing perpetual strawberry Flamenco, stopped producing runners and has died out during the wet sunless winter.

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GARDEN TREES

GARDEN TREES

Every garden can benefit from a few trees to give them scale, height, flowers, autumn colour and fruit. Trees encourage birds and other wildlife, screen eyesores and create impressive specimens in lawns and borders. Trees can be selected for any size of garden and may be ornamental, flowering and fruiting.

The largest gardens can enjoy a good specimen Cedar, silver weeping lime, purple beech or maple, but as garden size gets smaller we just choose the next smaller size to suit. There are numerous upright tree forms which can be very impressive but don’t take up much space such as hornbeam, oak and the upright cherry,

White stemmed birch tree

Prunus Amanagawa only needs a square metre. The weeping birch Betula pendula youngii makes a brilliant specimen, especially if you train the leader upright for a few years then let it weep. My other favourite birch is the pure white stemmed Betula jacquemontii, making a very impressive specimen in all seasons. Then in Scotland you must find space for a rowan, now available with a wide range of different coloured berries.

Another favourite but needs space is the Eucalyptus gunnii. It is evergreen, hardy and fast growing.

Maples come in all sizes and the Japanese types such as Sangokaku makes a small tree with terrific autumn colour then attractive red stems in winter after leaf fall.

For the very small gardens the Kilmarnock willow and the dwarf weeping elm tree, Ulmus camperdownii, is well worth planting as they are both very attractive and the

Cordyline australis

Camperdown elm is our local elm. For a very small garden you can still get a bit of height with the dwarf mountain pine, Pinus mugo or slightly taller Pinus strobus nanus or the tree heath, Erica arborea. If you want an evergreen, the hardy palm, Cordyline australis is quite happy as long as global warming continues, but if we get another really bad winter it can kill the top down to ground level, though usually it survives to grow on again after a years recovery.

Flowering trees

Cherries, crab apples, Magnolias, Eucryphia, Lilac and Amelanchier are all perfect for smaller gardens. Prunus Amanogawa is upright and quite narrow. Prunus Shirotae is spreading, but an absolute stunner in flower. Crab apples flower then have a crop of very bright small apples, e.g. John Downie. Some Magnolias are more large shrubs, but can attain a fair height when mature.

Eucryphia Rostrevor is slow growing but will make a tall white flowering tree in time.

 

Apple Starline Firedance

Fruiting trees

If you prefer to have a fruiting tree then the choice can include apples, pears, plums, peaches, and cherries and even the fig will make a small fruiting tree. Modern dwarfing rootstocks now allow us to have apples, peaches and cherries that will happily fit into the small garden often trained against a south facing wall. Choose varieties that have healthy foliage as there are very few fungicides available to tackle scab, mildew or brown rot. I can recommend apple Discovery, Katy, Red Devil, Fiesta and Bramley for a good cooker. If space is limited try the columnar apple Starline Firedance. Victoria is still my favourite plum, and Avalon Pride a good peach with

Upright oak

resistance to peach leaf curl disease. Beurre Hardy and Concord are my best pears, but newer varieties are appearing all the time and it is good to try something different.

Wee jobs to do this week

Grape vines under glass and outdoors get pruned in December and January, but I retain several strong shoots to use as cuttings later on, but keep them moist by heeling in the soil in the greenhouse border. I take cuttings about two buds length and place then round the sides of a pot with a few draining compost. Place them indoors on a windowsill where they will get some warmth and light, but not direct sunlight. They should be rooted by late spring and ready for potting on.

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