World Radio Switzerland

Gardening gets even greener

Fri, 15 May 2009 12:40:00 UT

Garden Doctor’s instructions:

There are lots of ideas here, so don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to tackle them all at once. Make one or two changes this year and you will make a big difference to your soil and the animals and plants in your garden.

How do I deal with pests in the garden?

GREEN
Stop using slug pellets that contain metaldehyde, methiocarb or thiodicarb. Not only are they highly toxic to pets and children, but also to other creatures in the food chain such as hedgehogs and birds. If you want to stick with slug pellets, instead look out for a new product called Ferramol made by Neudorff, which (the manufacturers claim) is only toxic to slugs and snails. It is authorised for use in organic food production by Bio Suisse.

Plant some bee-friendly flowers like lavender to attract these busy buzzers to your garden. Our entire food chain depends on pollinating insects, particularly bees, and providing plenty of food sources for them helps to ensure their survival.

GREENER
Stop using general pesticides. The majority of sprays are used for aphids (greenfly and blackfly), but many are poisonous to bees and butterflies as well. The way to prevent a major aphid infestation is to act early. Hand squashing (disgusting but effective), rinsing them off with a powerful hose or squirting them with very dilute washing-up liquid are all popular alternative methods. Ladybirds are voracious predators of aphids, and you can buy them for home delivery.

Try some traditional slug barriers, such as wood ash, gravel or copper bands round your most precious plants.

Grease bands are effective on fruit trees such as apple, pear and cherry against many moths that would otherwise lay eggs and eat leaves later on in the spring. Stick the grease bands round the trunk of the tree about 45 cm above soil level and you’ll prevent many of the wingless females climbing up the trunk between November and March.

Encourage more natural predators to your garden. Hedgehogs love slugs and snails and can be encouraged into your garden by providing hidey-holes such as leaves in hedge bottoms, heaps of prunings behind sheds, or log piles with plenty of gaps. Blue-tits and robins also have a keen eye for insects such as caterpillars, and they will become regular visitors to your garden if you encourage them in with food and plenty of nesting boxes in which to bring up their hungry young.

GREENEST
Try nematode control for slugs. These microscopic creatures burrow through the soil in search of their prey, which they quickly kill underground. They are entirely suitable for home use and can be bought as a peculiar powder, which is then diluted with water and watered on to affected areas—but do not water directly onto crops. Avoid use if you are immune deficient.

Codling moths are often responsible for maggots in apples, and the bright yellow pheromone traps are very effective at reducing the numbers of males in the area. The open-sided traps can be hung in susceptible trees from early May.

Encourage more beneficial insects into the garden. Of course, bees are essential to promote pollination, but insects such as lacewings and hover flies will also help to manage the pests in your garden. Plants to encourage insects include achillea millefolium (yarrow), Angelica archangelica (angelica) Helianthus annuus (sunflower), and there are many more.

How do I deal with weeds?

GREEN
Know your enemy! If you can recognise the weeds as they appear, it’s much easier to get rid of them before they become a major nuisance. Decide which weeds bother you most—dandelions and plantains in lawns are a real nuisance, and the appalling bindweed and ground elder in borders are really bad—then decide how you’re going to deal with them. Are daisies OK? How about clover? Children and bees respectively love these plants. The herbicides formulated for use on lawns are designed to kill everything that is not a grass, so even wild flowers will be wiped out. Digging by hand is very effective for dandelions in early spring, especially if you equip yourself with a special tool.

GREENER
Use heavy mulching to deter weed invasion on any open spaces. The mulch can be organic (wood chips or cocoa husks) or inorganic (pebbles or gravel) but it should be at least 10 cm deep and kept away from plant stems to prevent rotting.

Get a weed wand. These magical little gizmos are rather like a chef’s blowtorch but instead of toasting crème brûlée, you burn the weeds. Best for use on gravel or paving, and highly effective.

GREENEST
On lawns, feed the grass with an organic feed and cut regularly, but not too closely. Leave the mowings on unless the lawn is wet.

Intercrop slow-growing vegetables with faster-growing varieties. Radishes are typically used in between rows, or you could try lettuces in between cabbages or brussel sprouts. The fast-growing crop will be ready to harvest just as the leaves of the second crop are encroaching on their space. The fast-growing crop will compete very effectively with weed seeds, reducing weed management. If you have any spaces that will be left unplanted, use green manures such as buckwheat and fenugreek to smother weed growth and dig them back into the ground for extra nutrients later on.

What can I feed my plants with?

GREEN
Try feeding the soil instead of the plants. Plant feeds provide nutrients for the plant to use up quickly, but generally provide little for the soil. One of the main principles of organic gardening is to improve the soil and let the soil feed the plant. Soil improvers include garden compost, compost from the waste reception centre, well-rotted horse manure, shredded bark and leaf mould. All of these will introduce some fibrous material, good for improving water retention and drainage, as well as some nutritional benefits. They can be dug in or put on top of the soil as a mulch to allow the soil organisms to do their job gradually.

The traditional additions, such as bloodmeal or seaweed are completely organic and will bring particular additional nutrients to your “soil party.”

GREENER
Try starting a compost heap. A simple version can easily be constructed from wooden slats or buy a ready-made version for about CHF 80, and there is a lot of free advice on what to put in to your heap and what to avoid.

GREENEST
Make your own plant feeds, such as from comfrey or nettles.

How do I manage my water use in the garden?

GREEN
Plant drought-tolerant species such as lavender and rosemary in hot, sunny spots.

Choose larger containers instead of lots of smaller containers. The plants will appreciate the extra water-holding capacity in the compost. Grouping containers together can also help to create a helpful microclimate.

Include water-retaining gel in the compost. These gels can absorb up to 400 times their own weight in water. This is then available for your plants’ roots long after it would have otherwise drained out of the container and been lost.

Water only the plants that need it. Newly planted specimens, annuals, fruit and vegetables often need the most water. Established shrubs, trees and perennials need less water care and should only need additional water in drought years.

GREENER
Mulch your soil with a significant layer of compost, bark mulch, cocoa shells or even gravel. The mulch will help reduce weeds and water loss due to evaporation from the soil surface. Mulched soils are also less prone to extreme temperatures, staying warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The biodegradable materials will need topping up every 3 to 5 years, as the soil organisms will have done their job and incorporated the mulch into the soil itself.

Improve your soil by adding lots of bulky organic material such as garden compost or well-rotted manure. These elements increase the percentage of humus in the soil, made of tiny particles of dead and decayed plant and animal matter. Water clings to humus and is kept available for your plants’ roots.

Plant suitable plants for each situation in the garden, from dry shade to damp shade, from hot and dry to warm west-facing walls, there are perfect plants for each place. The plants will thrive, be better able to repel pests and diseases and need less support and care.

GREENEST
Install a water recuperation system from your house.

Resource guide:
Some of the organic gardening resources mentioned above:

Where to buy ladybirds
Amazingly, you can pick up a coupon to buy ladybirds from Migros Do-It. Just fill it in and send it off to the address on the back, and a fortnight later they’ll be delivered! They look like tiny aliens and don’t have any spots yet. Just follow the instructions and you will soon have some little ladybirds. Alternatively you can buy them direct from Andermatt Biogarten on www.biogarten.ch

Where to buy slug nematodes
The nematodes are also available from Andermatt Biogarten and Migros Do-It.

Compost heaps
The excellent website of Garden Organic (previously named the Henry Doubleday Research Association) on www.gardenorganic.org.uk has tons of information on all elements of organic gardening and plenty of help on starting a compost heap.

Comfrey and nettle feeds
www.allotment.org.uk

Topics: environment

Green summer outings

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:35:00 UT

Outing No. 1: Jardin de Maths in the Geneva Botanical Gardens, open until 12 October

The Botanical Gardens in Geneva are well worth a visit at any time of year, and this summertime’s special feature is the Mathematical Garden. It is divided into four sections and is spread out over the whole garden. The most successful garden, I think, is the section devoted to spirals and the Fibonacci sequence. The other sections include shapes, measuring and fractals. Besides the mathematical garden, there are the usual other attractions including a large playground, buvette, some animals and birds and an extraordinary merry-go-round. For more details, or how to get there and where to park, check out the website of the Botanical Gardens www.ville-ge.ch/cjb

Outing No. 2: Exhibition “Jardin Jardins” at the Musee Voltaire, open until 1 November

This exhibition is subtitled “Three centuries of gardens in Geneva”, and is a great introduction both to the development of the great houses and their gardens locally, as well a guide to changing tastes and landscape styles. Worth a visit if you’re at all interested in Geneva, old maps, gardens or garden history. It has a superb collection of plans, models, modern photos of older and more modern gardens. For more details, go to the website www.jardinjardins.ch and www.ville-ge.ch/imv

Growing beautiful bellflowers

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:06:03 UT

Campanulas or bellflowers are a large family of fantastic plants, suitable for plenty of different sites round the garden. The different kinds can be grown in borders or naturalising under trees, and even for growing through gravel or on walls. The flower colours vary from white, pale blues and pinks through to deep blues and purples.

The most common variety is the Canterbury or Coventry bell, Campanula medium, which is a biennial (produces leaves in the first year, flowers the following year, then dies.) It is easy to raise from seed, and should be planted out in late summer for flowering the following year. Seeds can bought from any garden centre—I particularly like the seed varieties available in the Thompson & Morgan range (www.thompson-morgan.com)

All the perennial varieties can also be propagated through division in autumn or spring. Dig up the large clump of campanulas, and split out the older plants in the middle from the young sections on the outside of the plant. Replant the younger sections and compost the older sections. You can, of course, buy the most common varieties as ready-grown plants from a garden centre, but the less common varieties you may have to grow from seed.

Cottage garden favourites: Campanula lactiflora “Loddon Anna” strong smoky-pink colour or Campanula lactiflora “Pritchard’s Variety” with dark violet-blue flowers. Loddon Anna looks superb grown next to dark-leaved heucheras, and you could try Pritchard’s Variety with either a golden grass or deep green ferns.

Borders: Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaved campanula) keeps its leaves in all but the coldest winters and provides tall non-branching stems with open cups in blue or white. Looks superb grown through deep red or pink old roses.

Campanula latiloba has attractive leaves in a rosette at the base of the stem, with stiff, self-supporting stems and lots of flowers. Look out for Campanula latiloba “Alba” for a good, clear white or C. latiloba “Hidcote Amethyst” for the lovely ivory buds that open to amethyst flowers.

Front of a border or containers: Campanula cochleariifolia (Fairy bells or Fairy Thimbles) has tiny dainty pale blue flowers and is very uncomplaining of cold soils. It looks lovely planted up with golden marjorams or golden oreganos. Campanula carpatica likes growing in a container, and won’t swamp any surrounding plants. The variety “Blaue Clips” is a strong blue and mid-height at 60 cm tall.

Warm walls or edging paths: Campanula portenschlagiana (also sold as Campanula muralis) is the easiest campanula to grow in these conditions, covering banks and walls with dainty purple-blue flowers.

Naturalising under trees or rough grass: C. rapunculoides looks lovely with wild garlic, cow parsley and some tough hellebores. C. latifolia follows on well from foxgloves and likes similar conditions. Avoid planting C. alliarifolia with any other plants—it’s a real thug!

Next week we’re looking at edible flowers, not just a garnish, but a real treat by themselves.

Any questions, contact me, Hester Macdonald on hester@hmgardendesign.com

Plenty of poppies

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:00:05 UT

Papaver orientale “Patty’s Plum” a rich mulberry-plum colour flower with silver leaves.

Papaver orientale “Black and White” and P. orientale “Perry’s White” , or P. orientale “Karine” in a pretty pink.

If you fancy trying a different variety, look out for one of the following: Papver nudicaule (Icelandic poppy), Escholzia californica (California poppy) or a shade-loving Meconospis such as the Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica) or the extraordinary blue Himalayan poppy.

If you need any more details, drop me a line at hester@hmgardendesign.com

Over the next few weeks we’re looking at gardens for pets as well as the Garden Doctor, if you want any details, please contact me on the above address.

Garden jobs for June

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:50:00 UT

This week we’re tackling the long list of jobs for this time of the garden, and a few reminders if you’re new to vegetable gardening.

Houseplants can be put outside without exposing them to too much direct sunshine. This is often a good time to have a look at the compost in their pots and top it up or even completely repot the plants.

It’s also a good time of year to have a go at trimming box and privet or other plants that have been used as topiary forms. Birds are fond of nesting inside privet forms, so check first for nests.

If you’ve been growing your dahlias in pots or indoors, they should be big enough now to resist the attentions of slugs, so they can be planted outside in borders or containers.

June is one of my favourite times of year for roses, and they will appreciate feeding, and de-suckering. June is also the best time to choose new roses, and there are lots of great rose suppliers here in the Geneva region. Tchanz have a great range of their own roses.

In the kitchen garden, you can shear over the soft-leaved herbs to create another crop of soft tender leaves. Suitable herbs include lovage, mint, chives and lemon balm. If you are lucky enough to have space for raspberries, now is the time to tie in the growing canes. If your raspberries and other fruit are far enough ahead to warrant the attention, you can net them now.

Potatoes will benefit from regular “earthing up” as the weeks go by, this will stop any tubers going green, and encourage more potatoes to grow, giving a better crop.

Star plant of the month is French lavender, Lavandula stoechas, beautiful but more delicate than regular lavender, but well worth a place in your garden.

Next week, what’s in a name—the secret stories behind well-known flowers and plants.

Garden doctor is in

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:50:00 UT

Lots of great questions this month, ranging from slugs, to apple seedlings, to bramble patches. If you send in a question during the month, it will be answered directly and the most relevant will be used in the following Garden Doctor show.

Best blooms in Chelsea

Hester Macdonald — Fri, 30 May 2008 09:18:15 UT

This year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show—attended by 157,000 visitors over the week, with 600 exhibitors and 44 show gardens—is regarded as the most important garden event in the UK.

If you want to go, you should buy your tickets in January (yes, really), and if you become a member of the Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk you get first options on the tickets and the right to attend the “members only” days earlier on in the week.

The key themes for 2008 could be described as subdued calm, lots of green with pockets of colour and fun. Plants that popped up time and time again included box, palms, ferns, and moss (all very green), and alliums, white foxgloves, aquilegias and irises.

My favourite show gardens included the masterly execution by Tom Stuart-Smith, who won not only a Gold Medal but also Best In Show, Cleve West (another favourite on this show) has a fabulous garden for BUPA, which also won a Gold Medal. I particularly like the play between the hard and soft landscaping and the planting is fabulous. If you want to have a look at these gardens, go to the RHS website and follow the links to Chelsea 2008.

In the category of the smaller gardens, I particularly liked the Children’s Society garden by Mark Gregory, it was fun, practical and attractive. I also adored Rachel de Thame’s garden for LK Bennett, a UK-based womenswear retailer, which was inspired by 1950s dresses, and has very pretty planting with strong hard landscaping.

There are always lots of new plants launched at Chelsea, and two of my favourites were a new rose by David Austin “Young Lycidas” www.davidaustinroses.com and a super new seed mix from Thompson & Morgan, specially for micro-greens, called “Spicy Salad Mix” www.thompson-morgan.com

Whether you have ducks and chickens or not, have a look at Heytesbury Bird Pavilions, just because they are fun and look lovely! www.birdpavilions.com

Next week I’ll be donning my white coat and stethoscope and tackling all the gardening questions you have sent in over the last few weeks in the Garden Doctor.

Vegetables for beginners, part 4

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:59:07 UT

Recommended dwarf pea varieties: Douce Provence or Cador. Tall pea varieties include Express à Longue cosse and the lovely Roi des conserves, or alternatively you could try a mangetout type and grow Mangetout Normand.

Recommended bean varieties include the dwarf types Delinel or Primel, the tall varieties Coco à rames blanc, or the extraordinary Coco de Prague Langue de feu à rames. If you want to have a go at broad beans, look out for Fève de Seville or Fève d’Aguadulce.

If you want any more detailed information, please drop me a line at hester@hmgardendesign.com

Next week we’re catching up with all that’s new in the world of garden design at the Chelsea Flower Show. It’s on in London right now, so have a peek on www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea/2008 to look at the show gardens and some of the new plants launched at the show.

Vegetables for beginners, part 3

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:55:00 UT

Tomatoes are some of the easiest vegetables (although, yes, they are really a fruit, but we’ll call them vegetables…) for beginners to have a go with. They like a very sunny spot and rich soil, but if you can’t provide this, don’t worry, they’ll do very well in containers or a windowbox. For growing in the garden, look out for the varieties Marmande or Roma. For growing in windowboxes Tumbler is fantastic, or Supersweet 100 for containers.

Aubergines are part of the same family as tomatoes (and potatoes, oddly enough) and typically have rich purple skins, but also can be found in yellow, white or striped. For a beginner, it’s best to stick to the basic purple sort, and either Violette de Berbentane or Moneymaker are good bets. Like tomatoes, they will do well in the ground, or in a large container (25 litres is ideal) and need regular watering and feeding ever 10 days once the fruits appear.

Peppers are probably the most demanding of this group to grow, so avoid them if you’re a real beginner, try tomatoes first! If you fancy having a go, they appreciate a very sheltered site or a warm corner on a balcony or terrace. Look out for the varieties Esterel or Piment doux long des Landes as both are early croppers and will provide you with about 6-8 peppers per plant.

Courgettes are related to cucmbers but are rather easier to grow, and are treated like annuals grown outside. Unlike the other plants we have looked at today, courgettes do not climb, they sprawl. You only need one plant per square metre, and can easily be pinched out if they get too enormous.

If you want any more details, or have any other questions, get in touch with me hester@hmgardendesign.com

Next week we’re finishing our series on Vegetables for Beginners, and we’re talking about peas and beans.

Plant events in the region

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:06:24 UT

Coppet Garden Event this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm www.jardinsenfete.ch

Journees des plantes Courson, May 16-18, www.domaine-de-courson.fr

RHS shows Chelsea (May 20-24) and Hampton Court (July 8-13), www.rhs.org.uk

And don’t forget it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday!

There are several places your children can make suitable floral offerings for mom: with Maggy at the event at Coppet and at Schilliger in Gland. The “atelier” in Schilliger will cost 10 francs for the materials, and you should book in advance at 022 354 4444. The event runs from 10 am to 4:30 pm, suitable for children aged 4 and over.

Next week we’re back to the vegetable plot: Hoping that all risk of frost has passed, we’re planting out tomatoes and peppers.

Garden Doctor is here to help

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:59:03 UT

Moss in lawns is a perennial problem for anyone with a shady garden or whose garden lies on compacted clay.

Mosses are tiny non-flowering plants and when grass begins to fail, they will quickly move into the gaps and start to swamp the remaining grass. To get rid of it, you need to tackle both the moss and the root cause. Either use a chemical moss-killer or just rake it off, then work the soil over to improve the drainage, add some general purpose fertiliser and re-seed the area with a shade-resistant grass mix. If the lawn in question is under trees, you could try thinning or having the crowns lifted to improve the sunshine reaching the ground.

When to prune hedges:

Slow-growing evergreens (yes, holly, box and laurel) are pruned in late summer or early autumn. Fast-growing evergreens (privet, leylandii and thuja) are pruned two to three times over the growing season. Deciduous hedges of beech, hornbeam and hawthorn are pruned at the end of summer. Formal small hedges like lavender are pruned lightly after flowering.

Plant suggestions for a red or purple large shrub: Cotinus coggygria “Royal Purple” or Cotinus “Grace”, Berberis thunbergii Atropurpurea, Sambucus nigra “Guincho Purple” or Sambucus nigra “Black Lace”, Weigela florida “Foliis Purpureis.”

Geraniums for ground cover: Geranium x clarkei “Kshmir White” or Geranium “Ann Folkard.”

Where to get a good garden fork?

Tools are a very personal thing and I would always advise trying in the shop before you buy. For women, look out for the lighter, narrower spades and forks known as “border forks” and “border spades.” The DIY stores have a rather disappointing choice locally, instead go and look in a garden centre. Schilliger has an excellent range of English and Dutch tools, and Botanic and Jardiland in France offer a good range, too.

Marie-Sylive Imrie’s (importer of Zimbabwean bird sculptures) details from last week are marie-s.imrie@freesurf.ch or you can call her on 079 612 4580. She will be displaying the lovely birds at Coppet at the jardins en fete event May 9-11.

Next week we’re talking to Vivane Cagneux about what’s new at Coppet, what you can expect and about how it all started.

Ornament is crime? Sculptures and statues in your garden

Hester Macdonald — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:50:00 UT

There is a huge range of great garden ornamentation and it’s best planned in at the beginning of a new project, but don’t worry if you already have a finished garden, there’s always space for something!

Some of the options include statuary (classical and traditional), sculpture (modern), jars, sundials, pots, obelisks and spheres. Gnomes and other “amusing items” can all have their space, too - if you like it, then buy it, it’s your garden, after all! The extraordinary gnome website is at www.zipfelauf.com

Next week we’ll talk about inspirational websites, books and gardens to visit, as well as where to buy, locally and further afield.

Leafy and green, fresh from the garden

Hester Macdonald — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:58:23 UT

As a group, salad leaves are probably the easiest and cheapest vegetables to grow yourself. Once planted, they need very little care—just watering, some gentle weeding and regular picking. You don’t have to occupy acres of space, either, as they can be squeezed into the spaces between rows of slow-growers or into planters on a balcony.

You can buy all these salad vegetables either as seeds, or as young plants. Seeds are cheaper, and young plants are somewhat quicker, and slightly easier.

If you’ve never grown lettuce from seed before, start with an easy mixture, such as “Confetti.” This is a mix of easy-pick red and green lettuces, very quick to germinate and to start cropping. If you want to try lettuces grown from young plants, buy a pack of six to try, and look out for the loose leaf varieties, that allow you to snip just a few leaves at a time, such as “Feuille de Chene.”

Rocket is quick to grow from seed, and extremely cheap. If you’ve never tried growing it before and aren’t sure what to do with the seeds, try a pre-prepared seed disk instead. These are seeds inserted between two layers of biodegradable paper. The results are usually good, giving compact and neat plants, perfect for growing in containers.

Beetroot is unusual as you can eat both the leaves and the beets. The beets themselves can be eaten as delicious baby beets, or the mature larger beets. You should treat this like lettuce and can either buy it as young plants or grow it from seed. The seedlings can be killed off by frost, so if you are planning to plant outdoors now, the seedlings will need protection at night until the middle of May.

Spinach is extremely easy to grow from seed, and can be sown from seed any time from April to the end of May. The seeds are larger than lettuce seeds and are easier to handle and space out well in the seed drill. You can start picking as soon as the outer leaves are large enough. And keep picking to encourage fresh growth.

Swiss chard is a good alternative if your ground is too dry for spinach, or if you want some bright colour in the vegetable patch.

If you have any questions, drop Hester a line at www.hmgardendesign.com

Next week we’re starting a two-part series on sculpture in the garden.

Garden Doctor is in

Hester Macdonald — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:59:12 UT

On the first week of every month I don my white coat and put on my stethoscope and tackle all the tricky questions that have been sent in by listeners. If you send a question, I’ll always answer and some will be used on the show.

Today we’re looking at a variety of questions, starting with one about comfrey.

Comfrey is a herbaceous perennial that is high in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and is much prized by organic gardeners as a compost activator, or as a mulch or to make a concentrated feed. The variety recommended by the HDRA www.gardenorganic.org.uk is Bocking 14, which can’t be propagated by seeds. Instead you need to buy live plant material and grow it on. For Switzerland, www.biosem.ch have these, and another variety of Russian comfrey Symphytum x uplandicum. For France, try www.biaugerme.com and put “consoude” into the search engine.

Next up: rhododendrons suitable for growing at higher altitudes: “Cunnigham’s White”, “Azurro”, “Honourable Jean Marie de Montagu” or “Grace Seabrook.” If you want a smaller plant, have a look at the lovely Exbury hybrid azaleas.

On to a question about growing Cobaea scandes (also known as either “the cup and saucer vine” or Cathedral Bells) and whether it would survive the winter in a pot. Cobaea scandens is a half-hardy perennial and is likely to have survived if the temperatures only got down to 0 degrees centigrade. Unfortunately, the temperatures dropped lower than that this winter, so it may not have survived. However, it’s very easy to grow from seed, which is widely available in any garden centre. Plant it outside in a pot with protection from frost now, or keep it indoors until the end of May.

And finally, a question about growing Agapanthus outside. Given the heavy clay of most gardens here, it is wiser to grow Agapanthus in a pot and overwinter the plant in a dry, frost-free place.

Next week we return to our series on growing your own vegetables, and some of the easiest vegetables to grow: salads and leaf vegetables.

And as alwys, if you have any questions, you can contact me at hester@hmgardendesign.com

Vegetables for beginners

Hester Macdonald — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:49:00 UT

This is the first of a new series on growing your own vegetables specially tailored for those of who have never grown vegetables before—or those who’ve just not been very successful.

When you are planning to start growing vegetables, you need to think about a few different areas. First, where are you going to grow them? What do you and your family like to eat? How much time will you have to take care of them?

Start small, no more than three or four different kinds in the first year.

We’ll start off easy, with potatoes.

Potatoes are one of the easiest crops for beginners, as once planted, they need little care beyond a bit of “earthing up” and watering. With ten weeks for the speediest varieties from planting to eating, they are good for breaking up new ground, and, unlike peas or beans, will happily wait until you are ready to eat them.

If you don’t have the space in the garden or don’t have a garden, there are lots of other options for growing in containers and potatoes are brilliant in containers. Old dustbins or tyre stacks are excellent as they are nice and deep.

Drop us a line if you want to know more. Next week, as it’s the first week of the month, we’re tackling your listener questions on The Garden Doctor. We can answer questions live on air, or send us your question by email in advance.