Starting with rooms which have great atmosphere, the trick is to use plants which work with existing features and not against them. A low-ceilinged, Elizabethan timber-framed house looks entirely wrong filled with palms, monsteras or other tropical plants. Simpler, softer subjects such as pelargoniums, cyclamen, begonias and ivies have much more the right feel and don’t clash with the traditional atmosphere. Similarly a cool high-tech city interior might look very strange with small fussy plants; the scale and simplicity would demand plants which are large and dramatic and make bold statements themselves. This is a case for a beaucarnia or a big Dracaena marginata or an aphelandra, whose marvellous graphic markings remove any chance of it being ignored. Read the rest of this entry »

Being high up, balconies and roofs are often more prone to the effects of cold winds than lower levels. Wind can lash plants around and damage them. Drying winds can quickly dry out the soil and give the foliage windburn. Plants may also receive too much sun. Extremely hot sun may not only damage the plants themselves, it can also dry the soil.

If you know that wind or sun is going to be a problem, try to choose plants that will tolerate them. Or provide some sort of protection against the elements.

Rather than trying to block out the wind entirely with solid panels that could look awkward or lead to turbulence as the wind travels over them, filter or slow down the wind with trellis panels. Ready-made wooden ones are generally available up to 1.8m (6ft) in height. When fixing them to the boundary walls or elsewhere make sure that they are really secure. One can only partially screen balconies, of course; perhaps trellis panels at each end would do the trick. Read the rest of this entry »

The water in a newly created pool will quickly turn green with algae and become like pea soup. To many people this is, of course, devastating. But people familiar with pools will not worry about it, for they know that the water will gradually become clear of its own accord, provided the pool has been well planted with submerged oxygenating plants and other aquatics.

On no account change the water when it becomes green, otherwise the problem will never solve itself. The fresh water will simply become green again. Just leave the pool alone to settle down and remember that once the plants are established the water will gradually clear up. As water evaporates the pool should be replenished with fresh water. Apart from this a pool will need very little attention for a few years. Read the rest of this entry »

Burdock

1. Family: Compositae
2. Species: Arctium lappa
3. Origin: Europe and Asia

4) Plant: biennial

1. Height: ,5 m; space 1,5 m apart
2. Soil: deeply dug, compost-rich soil
3. Exposure: full sun
4. Propagation: seed
5. Uses: culinary, medicinal, cosmetic

Burdock has an extraordinary list of traditional uses behind it. The root has been found to assist in removing and eliminating heavy metals from the body, and in today’s ever-wider-spreading pollution, this aspect is more important than we think. Used to treat an overload of toxins in the body, burdock was once grown near the coalmines and other industrial sites with heavy dust, smoke and pollution, and was given to the workers as a tea daily.

A robust survivor plant, it appears everywhere in waste ground and on city pavements, along roadsides and in neglected fields, bravely battling the elements, its giant leaves sheltering little field creatures from the storms. A brave soldier of a plant,’ a Chinese herbalist called it, ‘there to soothe mankind’s ills.’ Read the rest of this entry »

1. Family: Borag i naceae
2. Species: Symphytum officinale
3. Origin: Eurasia
4. Plant: perennial
5. Height: up to 75 cm; space 1-1,5 m apart Soil any soil
6. Exposure: full sun to partial shade
7. Propagation: seed
8. Uses: medicinal, cosmetic

An ancient miracle plant, comfrey has a long history. It was brought to Britain by the Crusaders and was taken to America in the 17th century. Thought to be a panacea for many ills, the monks treated the sick and the lame with comfrey with astonishing results. Stories of its healing, bone-building qualities (it is also known as ‘knit-bone’) abound. When my black labrador was hit by a truck and his pelvis and back legs crushed, I gave him a daily small dose of comfrey tea even while he was in the veterinary hospital and he was able to walk in three months. This is just one of the many comfrey miracles I have witnessed over the years! The more I use comfrey, the more I am amazed at its remarkable virtues. Lists of components in its leaves, roots and even flowers are astonishing in their diversity. Vitamin content from A to C, B12, E and D, minerals such as the important potassium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, its remarkably high protein content and its breaking-down abilities in the soil as a compost maker are daily being confirmed and augmented. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Family: Myrtaceae
2. Species: Eucalyptus globulus Origin Australia
3.  Plant: tree
4. Height: 12-18 m; space 10-15 m apart
5. Soil: any soil
6. Exposure: full sun
7. Propagation: seeds, cuttings
8. Uses: medicinal, cosmetic

Originating in Australia, eucalyptus has found its way into most countries around the world in tropical and subtropical areasn But, because of its huge thirst, careful plant management is necessary to prevent ecological problems. Smaller more manageable varieties are now being developed which can be kept pruned to head height and which will not absorb too much water and the suburban gardener can easily keep them in miniature form. Eucalyptus was first introduced to the Western world in the 19th century because of its insect repelling properties and, as a child, my father, on trips through the country, would point out homesteads surrounded by eucalyptus trees, part of a government project decades before to help to preserve stored grain or the wooden floors of the farm houses, as no ant would cross the eucalyptus barrier. Read the rest of this entry »