Sayonara, Japanese Beetles

Hire your children to save the garden from Japanese beetles. Pay them a penny a bug. In the evening, when the beetles won’t fly away, the kids can tiptoe along and brush them from plant foliage into jars of kerosene. Bet they won’t even be able to count their catch! Meanwhile, you can relax with a long novel or take in the evening news.

If Japanese beetle grubs are destroying your lawn, introduce milky spore disease, a microbial attack against the larval form of this insect. A little energy invested this year is well spent. Put a teaspoon in the ground every three feet for several years’ protection. It’s death to the grubs, but leaves the earthworm population untouched. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost every plant produces many thousands or even millions of seeds during its lifetime, but to ensure the survival of the species it is necessary for just one of these to reach maturity. This vast wastage is in reality a form of insurance as at least some should survive to pass the seedling stage. Generally the smaller (and therefore the more vulnerable) the seeds, the greater is the number produced. Read the rest of this entry »

To examine the rings of a tree without felling it, cores can be taken by boring into the wood with a hollow cylinder. By counting them inwards each ring can be accurately dated, the age of the tree can be determined and past climatic conditions can be inferred. For accuracy a number of trees is sampled and the ring widths compared. If they coincide, as they normally do, then narrow rings will indicate a poor growing season, probably one with a spring and early summer drought, Read the rest of this entry »

Dodder is perhaps one of the most interesting of the total parasites. It starts its existence normally, the seed germinating and producing a club-shaped taproot which fixes the plant in the soil. The shoot then begins growing, not straight up as is usual in seedlings, but with a circular movement. As soon as it touches a support it encircles it. If, however, the stem fails to find a suitable plant nearby, it is not rigid enough to grow upright and falls back to the ground. Read the rest of this entry »

The land surface of our planet provides a remarkably wide range of climatic conditions, and all but the most inhospitable habitats have been colonized by plants. Where plants are established, insects and animals can follow and the greatest diversity of life of all kinds is to be found in the most ideal climates. Read the rest of this entry »

Chard has a lot going for it. You can plant it as soon as you can work your garden in the spring, and it will provide tasty, nutritious greens for months. Through cold weather or hot, it won’t get bitter, tough, or strong as long as you keep it harvested.

With wide rows you can get basket after basket of chard to can or freeze for the winter. To me, it’s the perfect green for a wintertime meal. It tastes good, it’s nutritious, and it’s a lot cheaper than store-bought greens. Read the rest of this entry »

squirrels & chipmunks

Squirrels and chipmunks are fun to watch, but they are the hardest to keep away from your corn and sunflowers. A fence won’t keep them out, not even an electric one. They jump so well and scurry into the garden so fast that an electric shock doesn’t stop them. They’re in the garden while they’re still feeling the zap.

In the sweet corn or popcorn rows, squirrels climb right up the stalks and eat the ears. They’re smart. Often they only work the inside rows so you won’t notice them. A few times I have seen squirrels trying to haul away whole ears of corn. In a row of sunflowers they can jump from one stalk to the next as if they were in a tree.

In a small garden you may be able to use old stockings or heesecloth on the sunflower heads and corn ears to foil the squirrels at harvest time. In a big garden, an active cat or an eager dog may be your only hope. Read the rest of this entry »

Inadequate soil preparation before planting or sowing is a major cause of horticultural disappointment. Digging and the application of fertilizers and bulky organic materials are usually necessary to ensure that the soil is suited to the plants or crops that you want to grow. Drainage may also be required.

Four fertilizers that supply all the major foods.

There are certain fertilizers that supply all three of the principal foods required by plants: nitrogen for leaf and stem growth; phosphorus for good root growth; potassium (potash), which helps to form and ripen flowers, fruits and seeds.

• Blood, fish and bone Slowly releases nitrogen, phosphorus and potash; use before sowing or planting, or around established plants.
• Fishmeal Dig in before planting or sowing in spring. Read the rest of this entry »

These are the essential tools, used during soil cultivation, sowing and planting.

• Fork For digging heavy soils, breaking down rough-dug soil and for light surface cultivation. The head of a full-size four- tine fork measures 30.5 x 19cm/12 x 7¹/2in; that of a small border fork measures 23 x 14cm/9 x5 1/2 in.

• Hoe For surface cultivation, particularly to eradicate weeds between rows of plants. There are two basic types: the Dutch Hoe, which cuts horizontally through the soil; and the Draw Hoe, which is used with a chopping action (particularly recommended for stony or heavy soils, and also for making seed drills). Both have 1.5m/5ft handles. Read the rest of this entry »

Raising your own plants is much cheaper than buying from a nursery or garden centre. Although a greenhouse is helpful if you want to raise tender plants, a cold frame also has plenty of possibilities for propagating plants.

Six propagating aids

Apart from a greenhouse and cold frame, there are various other tools and materials which you will find useful for the successful propagation of plants.

• Cutting compost Used for rooting cuttings. Made at home by mixing equal parts by bulk of moist sphagnum moss peat and coarse horticultural sand. Alternatively use equal parts peat or coco fibre and perlite. Read the rest of this entry »

Virtually all shrubs can be propagated in this way. The following respond particularly well.

• Azalea Peg down shoots into a peaty soil. Roots form slowly, taking about 12 months.
• Camellia Best rooted in peaty soil. Takes about 12 months.
• Lilac (Syringa) Roots in about 6 months in sandy soil.
• Magnolia Takes 12 months to root. Peg into peaty soil and keep moist.
• Rhododendron Best rooted in peaty soil. Roots form slowly, taking at least 12 months. Read the rest of this entry »

If money is no object you can now have a greenhouse or conservatory that looks after itself, with the plants watered automatically. On a more modest scale, garden frames and cloches are extremely useful (andcomparatively inexpensive) pieces of equipment: they are of particular value on the vegetable plot for extending the growing season at either end.

Eight types of greenhouse

Today greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes to suit every need and site.

• Span-roof greenhouse The traditional greenhouse, with pitched roof (each side of equal size and shape) sloping down to the eaves. Normally has straight sides, although there are models with sloping sides which result in better light penetration. The glass-to-ground types are ideal for growing plants at ground level, such as tomatoes in growing-bags; those with solid sides (to about 90cm/3ft) are good for pot plants, as they retain heat better than all-glass houses. Framework available in aluminium alloy or timber (such as western red cedar). You can now obtain span-roof greenhouses with curved eaves. Read the rest of this entry »

Exotics — from warm or tropical regions of the world — have luxurious associations for inhabitants of cooler dimes. Most have to be nurtured under glass in temperate climates.A warm greenhouse or conservatory (minimum temperature 15^°C/59°F), or an intermediate one (at least 8^°C/50°F), allows you to grow some highly colourful tropical plants. Even a cool greenhouse or conservatory (at least 5-7^°C/40-45°F) can be colourful all year round.

Five flowering exotics for the warm greenhouse

These plants offer long-lasting, spectacular flowers. They are easy to grow provided that they have plenty of warmth at all times, and moist or humid air. Read the rest of this entry »

The most common problem with lawns is discoloured turf. Mainly this is caused by some adverse cultural condition such as drought, waterlogging, faulty feeding or poor mowing. However, there are pests and diseases that can disfigure, weaken or even kill large areas of turf, so you should always investigate discoloured areas early and apply control measures, if needed, as soon as possible.

Three pests found in lawns

These are the most common, and most troublesome, pests that are likely to invade your lawn. Read the rest of this entry »

Birds usually create the biggest problem, but you should look out too for mites and weevils.

• Apple blossom weevil The small white grubs of this tiny brown beetle eat the central parts of apple flowers. Infested blossoms fail to open. Spray with permethrin as the buds are forming or fenitrothion as the buds burst open.
• Big bud mites Tiny mites that live in large numbers inside the buds of blackcurrants. Infected buds are swollen and round, and usually fail to come into growth. Pick off and burn; spray with benomyl fungicide in spring and early summer. Read the rest of this entry »

Verbena is an old-fashioned cottage garden plant that is making something of a comeback. It is really a perennial but is best treated as an annual; the new hybrids have dense heads of pink, white and purple flowers that still retain their scent. Take out the growing shoots to encourage bushiness and dead-head regularly. Verbena is usually sold in boxes of mixed colours and these mixtures are particularly attractive. It reaches a height of up to 10 inches.

Gazania is another perennial most commonly grown as an annual. G. x hybrida at 9 inches has dark green foliage with a grey underside; the daisy flowers are in the yellow, orange, bronze range though you can also have some deep pinks. They like full sun. Read the rest of this entry »

High summer, when everything in the garden is blooming and burgeoning in competition, is the time when window boxes should be planted very boldly. Colours in the summer must be bright to compete with the sun or perhaps make up for the lack of it.

Red geraniums and dark blue trailing lobelia are something of a horticultural cliché but for effect against stone or stucco they can hardly be bettered. As a change from the red geranium—like ‘Sprinter’, which is massed outside Buckingham Palace every year—you can have ‘Cherie’, which has soft salmon pink flowers and deeply zoned leaves, or ‘Ringo Salmon’, which is almost orange, or ‘Rose Marie’, a really intense pink. If your house is built of brick avoid all the colours and choose white, either ‘White Orbit’ or ‘Iceberg’, which will look asking if they would like them. Few would be so stunning. In fact when choosing geraniums thechurlish as to refuse, and most would be delighted to golden rule is to shop around because newer, moreexciting colours are introduced every season. When you have found a geranium in a shade you like, mass it for maximum effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Back to simplicity and the simple country feel of wood and brick and lots of fresh air. If you prefer Indian rugs, or dhurries, on faxed floors or deep-pile carpet and crisp cotton sheets to satin ones then your plants should look countrified too. Pelargoniums look right whether indoors or out and at one time few cottages didn’t have their pot or two of cheerful flowers on a window-sill. Busy lizzies are another good old-fashioned sort of plant, often badly grown and allowed to get leggy and sparse. They do like plenty of light indoors but not direct sunlight and as they are really very easy to propagate from seed or cuttings there is no reason why you shouldn‘t have a regular supply to fill your window-sills. Read the rest of this entry »

Dracaena marginata tricolor is a stunningly dramatic plant. It has narrow knife-like leaves, striped green, cream and pink and, as in the yucca, the leaves burst out from the centre of the plant. There is also the species D. marginata which has the foliage clustered at the top of a stem. The croton definitely belongs in this category, but needs some cosseting to really flourish. It needs constant warmth and no chills, plus humidity and plenty of light. Given all this it will reward you with amazing splashes of colour on its broad densely packed leaves. The veining varies from cream through yellow to red according to the individual cultivar. Certain cacti can be very dramatic especially if placed in a situation which makes the most of their extraordinary shapes and weird textures. Read the rest of this entry »

Finding a plant to suit every situation in the house might sound impossible; so few rooms have the perfect environment. If we have a few failures we tend to become discouraged. However there are dozens of plants which are quite happy in extreme conditions from hot and dry to dark and humid and there are many easy plants which are not in the least bit fussy about where they live. Sort out your problem areas and you will find there are plants which will make the most of them.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms seem to be the perfect environment for plants. All that warmth and water splashing about makes us feel that anything growing there will thrive. Also, from the point of view of appearance, foliage plants, in particular, are most effective. Their leaf shapes and textures produce a strong contrast with the smooth monochrome forms of bathroom fittings. Read the rest of this entry »