The common diseases can also be grouped according to their symptoms and treatment. So that the interested gardener can soon acquire a working knowledge of them. Powdery Mildew All the powdery mildews make plants look as if they had been dusted with flour. Roses can suffer very badly, especially in dry summers, and so can … Read more
Acid soil Soil with a pH of less than 7.0, containing little or no lime. Aerate To relieve soil compaction and improve underground ventilation by hoeing, forking, or digging. Alkaline soil Soil with a pH of more than 7.0, containing more than an average amount of lime. Ameliorant Any material added to the soil which … Read more
Fruits can be successfully grown in confined spaces, and produce crops within one to three years after planting. While they generally crop best in sunny positions, gooseberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and strawberries grow satisfactorily in light shade. Shelter from cold north and east winds, particularly at flowering time, is necessary to ensure pollination and fruit set. … Read more
The cultivation of vegetable and fruit crops provides healthy exercise, helps the housekeeping budget and produces good, wholesome food. For ease of cultivation and crop-rotation planning, vegetable crops are divided into three types; pod, bulb and stem crops (beans, peas, onions, leeks and celery); root crops (potatoes, turnips, carrots, beetroot); and green crops (cabbage, Brussels … Read more
The soil type greatly influences the range of plants which can be grown. Most rhododendrons, for example, cannot tolerate chalky soil, while clematis absolutely thrive on it. The basic soil types are listed below, and all can be made to produce good crops or ornamental displays, given suitable soil management and improvement. LOAM The ideal … Read more
Buy a few, well-made garden tools to start with. Leave the more specialized equipment until necessary. You may then find you can borrow the particular tool, or rent it at an economical rate. When buying tools, make sure they are strong but not too heavy for comfort. Equipment such as large watering cans and wheelbarrows … Read more
Soil and Situation. Walnuts will succeed in most soils that are not waterlogged, or very poor and liable to dry out severely in summer. Prefer open, sunny places. Planting. As for apples. Space trees at least 30 ft. apart. Forms of Training. Almost invariably grown as standards. Often planted for ornament as well as utility. … Read more
Soil and Situation. Strawberries succeed best in rich soils. They will grow well in heavy loam if good winter drainage can be assured. Phosphates have a marked effect on growth. Soil should be deeply dug, enriched with manure or compost at 1 cwt. to 12-15 sq. yd., and dusted with basic slag at 6 oz. … Read more
Soil and Situation. Raspberries succeed in most soils except those of a very light, dry nature. They appreciate moisture while in growth. Soil must be dug deeply and should be dressed with well-rotted manure at the rate of 1 cwt. to 12 sq. yd., and sulphate of potash at 1 oz. per square yard. Lime … Read more
Soil and Situation. Plums And Damsons succeed best on rather rich, loamy land. Plums and damsons require more nitrogen than apples and are therefore less suitable for ,grass orchards, though certain vigorous varieties, such as Blaisden Red and Pershore, succeed. Lime is beneficial. Sour, poor, and dry, sandy soils are unsuitable. Plums flower early … Read more
Planting and cultivation Success with pears depends largely on your choosing the best possible varieties for your district. The world famous ‘Conference’ and ‘William’s Bon Chretien’ are the best choice for cold, higher altitude areas or exposed coastal districts. The soil should be improved by the addition of plenty of compost. Every early spring feed … Read more
Soil and Situation. Both peaches and nectarines require a warm, sunny position and good, well-drained soil. In these respects they resemble apricots, and the same general treatment should be observed. They are equally suitable for sunny greenhouses or walls and fences. Planting. This may be done at any time during the dormant period as for … Read more
Soil and Situation. Cobnuts And Filberts will succeed in a wide variety of positions from full sun to shade and are not particular as regards soil, though they do not crop well on heavy, wet clays. Preparation should be as thorough as possible and a little well-rotted manure may be worked in. Planting. From late … Read more
CAULIFLOWER Sowing to harvest time: 18 to 24 weeks for summer and autumn varieties; 40 weeks for winter varieties. Yield: 1 kg (21b) per plant. Climate preferred: Cool temperate to subtropical. Aspect: Open, but sheltered from cold winds. Soil: Rich, fertile loam, but sandy soils are suitable if plenty of organic material has been incorporated … Read more
Cardoons are ornamental plants grown for their blanched stems, which are used, both cooked and raw, in salads. Plants may be raised from seed sown in a warm greenhouse or in a frame in April, two or three seeds in each 3-in. pot. Reduce seedlings to one per pot and harden off for planting out … Read more
Basic Slag A slow-acting phosphatic fertilizer which also supplies lime. It is a steel-industry by-product and must be ground by machinery; the coarser the grinding the slower its action. Slag may remain in the soil for several years. Quality varies, and analysis may show anything from 8 to 22% phosphoric acid. Also the solubility, and … Read more
Manure from Stable and Byre. Bulky manures of this type contain nitrogen, phosphates, and potash, but not in the right proportions for all plants. Consequently it is necessary to ‘balance’ these animal manures with appropriate chemicals. Animal manures, by virtue of the humus they produce, improve the texture of the soil, making light soils more … Read more
Measuring Superficial Areas. Measurements are made across the widest and the narrowest parts of the plot, the two figures are added together and then divided by two. Two similar measurements are made across the greatest and least lengths of the plot and treated in the same manner. The average width and average length obtained by … Read more
Apricot. Apricots are grown only as wall trees in most British gardens, preferably fan trained and 15 ft. apart on a south wall. They like rather dry soil in summer. To encourage fruit, allow one stem of one-year-old growth to remain at each joint on the main stems. The fruit should form on this stem, … Read more
All soils should be prepared in the usual way, with the object of bringing the surface soil layer to the state of maximum fertility, and if the depth of fertile soil is considerable, the fruit will be all the better. Digging should, therefore, be done to a minimum depth of nearly 2 ft., and great … Read more
A bush fruit tree is one that is allowed or encouraged to form a spreading bushy head near the soil level. A well-formed bush should have several stems radiating from the main stem near to the ground level — generally 18 in. or 2 ft. from the ground, as such bushes are more easily managed. … Read more
The garden owner who can spare a part of his ground for vegetable cultivation rarely needs much encouragement to do so, but a great many amateur gardeners who could well plant a small but useful mixed orchard are afraid to venture into this department of horticulture. Undoubtedly, the reason is that the amateur is nervous … Read more
Compost For Seed Raising After a large number of experiments with all kinds of seeds, the John Innes Horticultural Institute has reported that the ideal seed-raising compost is this mixture, which is right for practically every kind of seed raised in gardens :— 2 parts good garden loam, sterilized. 1 part clean sand. 1 part … Read more
Plant propagation is one of the most exciting of all forms of garden activity. To the pleasure of planning and planting—the arrangement of beauty—can be added the thrill of raising Fresh plants from seed and multiplying cuttings; and, when we become experienced gardeners, of raising new varieties by cross-breeding Before describing details of the various … Read more
When a new garden is taken over, the question sometimes asked is : “ When is the best time to dig it? “ The general answer is : “As soon as you can “; but if the garden is not wanted in a great hurry, digging might conveniently wait until autumn. This would be for … Read more
ANIMAL MANURES Where there is any choice, it may be noted that strawy horse manure and sheep manure are best on heavy land, while cow and pig manure are better on light sandy land. Chicken manure is best stored dry for a time before use. It is then used in place of stable manure, but … Read more
What most new gardeners fail to appreciate is that the actual quantity of food taken by a plant from the soil (apart from water, which is considerable) is very small, and that in soil which contains humus the essential foods are generally present. Plants rarely need half the fertilizers that ambitious amateurs shower on the … Read more
New gardeners often complain about their soil. They say it dries out quickly, or that it is waterlogged, that it is sticky and heavy on the spade, or that it is so stony that they can’t get a spade into it. Well, soils do vary, and perhaps the new gardeners do have legitimate complaints at … Read more
A decision as to the number of plants needed must first be made. If a neat formal hedge of clipped evergreens, thick from base to top, is wanted with all possible speed it is wise to be generous with the order, and to allow for a double row of plants, staggered, that is set in … Read more
The chief reasons for the erection of such screens is privacy, except in very windswept open districts where shelter may be even more important. Often the two go together, and a boundary hedge that gives privacy will also serve as a windbreak, but this is not always the case. A belt of deciduous trees, for … Read more
Preparation of Sites and Planting To ensure rapid establishment and satisfactory growth of trees it is essential to prepare each site by taking out a hole for each tree (of normal nursery size) at least 3 ft. in diameter and 1 ½ ft. deep. If in the course of this preparation, chalk, gravel, sand, clay … Read more
I think most would agree that the self sufficiency scene is incomplete without the inclusion of a tree or, if space permits, a number of trees. Perhaps the most noble of all nature’s creations, trees add stature and grace to the garden as well as remarkable interest and variation of both colour and form in … Read more
It is not enough for water, with mineral substances in solution, merely to enter the root-hair. As far as the plant is concerned its journey is only now begun. A chain of progress is started, exactly as in the potato that holds a solution of sugar. The cell-sap in the root-hairs becomes weaker as a … Read more
Ignore people who tell you to sow peas at carefully spaced intervals. Sow them thickly in wide trenches and they will need little support as the plants will help hold each other up. Choose one of the semi-leafless varieties like ‘Bikini’ and they will need no support. When erecting poles to support runner beans or … Read more
Unless you happen to live in a farmhouse in the middle of a bleak fen, your attempts to alter the windspeed around your home will probably concentrate on the planting of a windbreak hedge rather than a true shelter-belt of trees. Before deciding on the type of hedging plant to use you will have to … Read more
Water-butts have, for a long time, offered an example of recycled materials: usually an empty wooden beer barrel, tapped at the bottom, this is set up on enough bricks so that a watering can may be comfortably placed under the tap; and it is covered to keep out leaves that would otherwise sink to the … Read more
Guidelines here are aspects, levels and contours, scale, balance and colour. An understanding of these will promote the final success of the shape of your garden and the right choice of plants and other features used to furnish it. Aspects A south-facing wall or fence is the most felicitous because it is protected from harsh … Read more
Faced with a virtual wilderness, the quickest way to demolish weeds is to use chemical weed-killers. But this is only to be advocated where the garden is so large that the more laborious methods of scything, burning, thoroughly digging over and fertilising would take too long. A large neglected garden often falls naturally into several … Read more
Before you go and buy seeds and plants, you need to know your soil and what plants it will suit. Old or new, large or small, level or sloping, random or regular in shape, urban or rural in situation — and the two sides of many other coins can be tossed when it comes to … Read more
Herbs fascinate me. I find romance in their histories and take delight in their names. Think, for example, of Rosemary: Ros-marinus, from the Latin ros, dew, and marinus, the sea. The common rosemary, R. officinalis, was most probably introduced to Britain in Roman times and has been widely grown here ever since as a culinary … Read more