FABULOUS bearded iris collection – 15 rhizomes HALF PRICE

NEWS SPECIAL – Prime Minister David Cameron pops in to garden centre en route to official engagement

PRACTICAL
How to assemble a large, shop-bought fruit cage PLUS budget options for protecting crops
Taking chrysanthemum cuttings from roots potted up in early February
Seedling masterclass – what to do when seeds germinate
Guide to the pitfalls of plant buying at garden centres
How to grow aubergines
How to start your free rudbeckia ‘Rustic Dwarfs Mixed’

FEATURES
The secrets of scented jonquil daffodils revealed
Plantswoman Rebecca Pow on setting up a cut flower garden

STAR WRITERS
Charles Dowding on sowing early salad crops; Anne Swithinbank is sorting out her driveway border and planting potatoes in old sacks; Peter Seabrook has advice on avoiding fuchsia gall mite; Bob Flowerdew reveals his secrets of growing great leeks; and Toby Buckland has discovered a curious cucumber growing on his plot.

REGULARS
Tried & Tested looks at chain saw sharpening kits
Me & My Garden features the delightful, bulb-packed plot of Ron and Angella Millington in Wool, Dorset.
PLUS readers’ letters, AG experts answer Q&As; wordsearch, crossword and spot-the-difference puzzle page.

It’s essential reading for budding gardeners and seasoned experts alike…

…AND IT ONLY COSTS TWO QUID! ON SALE NOW – DON’T MISS IT!

Give forsythia plants plenty of space

Pruned the right way, Forsythia can be a real asset to the garden, says Matthew Wilson

Despite its many virtues – fast growing, tough, easy-to-cultivate – Forsythia seems to suffer from a major image problem, to the point that some gardeners actively loathe it.

One of the reasons why, I’m sure, is the way in which Forsythia gets used in the garden – or rather abused in the garden – for if ever there was a shrub that suffered from the worst excesses of hacking and chopping, Forsythia must surely be it.

Forsythia grow rapidly, reaching maturity in comfortably under a decade, and this fast and sometimes slightly wayward growth is one of the reasons why they suffer from pruning butchery; if planted in the wrong place they can rapidly outgrow the space and lead to the inevitable chopping off of branches. But being vigorous by nature, the reaction of this shrub is simply to grow even more enthusiastically!

Forsythia is also a fairly popular choice of plant for hedges, and this is one application where I join the loathers. For me it just isn’t quite right as a hedge; not neat enough between trims to have the same qualities as yew, beech, hornbeam of even privet, and not loose enough to give it the natural look of a native hedge. And those vivid yellow flowers just look a bit odd embedded in the rigid geometry of a hedge. But well grown, correctly pruned Forsythia can be a real asset to the garden.

Artful pruning
So how to grow Forsythia well? Firstly, give them plenty of space, and plant them in the right place where their vigour won’t be a problem. With maturity reached so quickly getting the right pruning regime in place is vital, and fortunately it’s really straightforward.

The timing is easy to remember – right after flowering. It’s important to prune then as Forsythia flower on shoots grown the year before flowering, so if you prune too late you’ll be removing the flowers for next year. After five or six years it’s a good idea to remove about 20% – 30% of the oldest stems completely, right down hard to the ground. This will stop the plant from becoming congested and improve air circulation, reducing the risk of disease.
A decent feed with garden compost or well-rotted manure, and a good drink of water if the conditions are dry, and that’s about it. Once the flowers are over the plant steps out of the limelight until the following spring when those golden yellow flowers appear once more. With proper care, you need never loathe Forsythia again.

Love Your Garden host Alan Titchmarsh

As Alan revealed in AG’s 4 February issue, his Love Your Garden series will be extended to six, hour-long episodes when it returns this summer.

For the first time, former Ground Force host Alan will makeover an entire garden for people who deserve a helping hand outdoors.

An ITV1 spokeswoman said: “It could be someone who has dedicated their lives to their families, their community or their country.

“If you or someone you know has a great story to tell and would benefit from Alan’s magic, please get in touch.”

AG readers will need to send photos of the deserving person (or family), plus pictures of their garden and a brief description of why it needs a makeover.

Applications should be sent to: Love Your Garden, PO Box 64382, London EC2P 2GJ. Or email alan@itv.com to apply to take part.

Rosa 'Royal Jubilee'

Renowned grower David Austin roses has unveiled Rosa ‘Royal Jubilee,’ its patriotic new bloom for 2012.

It has rounded, soft-pink flowers that are borne in clusters – and give off a fruity fragrance that’s similar to blackcurrant tea or fruit pastilles.

‘Royal Jubilee’ came from David Austin’s breeding programme; one of the world’s biggest which produces over a quarter of a million rose seedlings every year.

Technical manager Michael Marriott said: “This is a lovely classic old rose with excellent fragrance and health.

“We knew right away it was the one to recognise the jubilee.”

Roses, which have not yet been priced, will be available after Chelsea in May. Call (01902) 376300 or www.davidaustinroses.com

Fill cell trays with sieved seed and cutting compost. Don’t compact the compost by pressing down, but do tap the tray to knock out trapped air.

Water the trays with a fine-rose watering can until you see water escaping from the drainage holes. Allow to drain fully before sowing.

Set your cell tray in a seed tray lined with wet capillary matting, then sow two seeds per cell, or more if you’re sowing tiny, hard-to-handle seeds.

Cover the seeds with a fine layer of sieved compost or vermiculite. Do not water. The covering will soon absorb moisture from below.

Cover with a propagator lid. Hardy annuals will not need extra heat, but half hardy annuals will require a temperature of 20-25ºC (68-77ºF).

After  germination switch off heat. Pinch out seedlings to leave one per cell. When large enough, transplant into pots of multipurpose compost.

Trying to stay busy I decided to check over my potted plants for pests and diseases. One plant that caught my eye was a hellebore, which I bought bare rooted last autumn.

The foliage is showing signs of either magnesium, potassium or nitrogen deficiency. This could be due to a couple of factors, either the plant is unable to take up nutrients from the compost because of an imbalance of these trace elements, or the compost has simply run out of nutrients to keep the leaves green.

I’m hedging my bets on it being magnesium deficiency, which shows itself as yellowing of the leaf in between the veins.  Yellow leaves with brown edges would be a sign of potassium deficiency. yellowing leaves with a pinkish tinge would indicate nitrogen deficiency .

It is hard at this stage for me to be one hundred per cent sure on the nutrient the plant is lacking so for now, whilst I do some research I am giving the plant a weekly comfrey feed and a foliar spray made up of 20g(0.7oz) of epsom salts in one litre (1/30z per pint) of water until I can pot it on or plant it out when the weather warms up a bit.

Best Buy 18/20

Best buy gloves

Tough Touch £26.95 (£2 p&p) Harrod Horticultural,

Tel. 0845 218 5301  www.harrodhorticultural.com

Build: 4

Hand is gold grain leather and the hide cuff has a suede feel. Available in both ladies and gents sizes.

Features: 5

The leather has been treated for more water resistance and the cuff is a generous size to offer comfortable all- round wrist protection.

Performance: 5

Suppliers performance claim: “High level of protection.” Thorns seemed to bounce off these beautifully crafted gardening gloves making pruning roses and dealing with brambles a walk in the park. The extended cuff offered plenty of protection too. However, over time the palm and finger surface tended to scuff-up a fair bit and during hot days the yellow dye came off on the palms of the hand. This didn’t detract from their performance though.

Value: 4

Could be used all the time but reserve them for prickly pruning only and use the cheap RHS glove for general work.

Other gloves on test  were:

Gauntlet £6.95 17/20, Briers, Tel. 01666 511457  www. briersltd.co.uk

RHS rose protective glove, £6.29, 16/20, Town & Country, Tel  (01530) 830990 www.townandco.com

Kunys goatskin rose gloves, £19.02 (p&p£4.95) 11/20, Tel. 0845  8380 661   www.powertoolsdirect.com

Leather gauntlet, £13.99 (p&p £3.99) 11/20, Town & Country, Tel. (01530) 830990, www.townandco.com

Chainsaw gloves with cut protection standard,  £31.25,  17/20, Stihl  Tel. 0800 137574  www.stihl.co.uk

We are a limited company based in the Fens of East Anglia. We pride ourselves on our high quality bulbs which are all graded, sorted and inspected by our own staff here at our farm.

Tel: 01945 430009

Online: www.eurobulbs.co.uk/

Expert books author Dr DG Hessayon accused the EU of stifling gardening with “silly” box-ticking bureaucracy.

Expert books author Dr D G Hessayon

This, he said, was diminishing the number of products available for controlling plant problems.

David Hessayon, 83, said: “If something is to be banned, the Government has to give a reason why it suddenly finds this is dangerous. It can’t just say ‘stop’ for established products.”

Plants are under threat from new pests and diseases and in some cases there are no sprays left to control them. Impatiens downy mildew has devastated busy Lizzies while fuchsia gall mite is spreading nationwide.

The Doc added: “My new bugbear is the growth of bureaucracy. The Government tries to make sure stuff is safe – that’s fine. When I began in this industry there were sometimes areas where you needed more bureaucracy.

“But a tide of regulations and the rule of health and safety hit us and the pendulum has gone the other way. Some rules are silly; others are counter-productive.

“I was selling Derris in the 1950s. The EU suddenly decided a box had to be ticked and it was banned in 2008.

“Hell, let it go, ban it, because it was not sold much and no-one was going to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds so it could tick those boxes. No trade association said ‘please tell us what harm it’s doing before you ban it?’”

Dr Hessayon, who published his first Expert book in 1958 (pictured, inset), said pesticide testing had been “toughened up” since he helped to bring Dithane to Britain from America.

He said he was glad arsenic for agricultural use had been banned, as well as nicotine and mercury-based garden products.

The Doc, who turns 84 this month, said he would not retire – even though he has sold 54million Expert guides.

Over 28 Expert titles are sold worldwide in 22 languages. He said he has three more original title ideas up his sleeve.

But a snail enthusiast believes gardeners should be growing their own snails for the dinner table, as part of the national drive towards self-sufficiency in tough times.

While many households are happy to adopt a couple of hens for their garden or allotment, Helen Howard set up a company selling edible snail farming kits. She found demand for the delicacy, traditionally favoured by the French, has doubled in the last couple of years.

“There is considerable interest in garden farming,” said Helen, who supplies her edible snails and kits to restaurants and the public.

“People increasingly like the idea of local food and have become more adventurous due to travelling – although some will always be squeamish.”

Any old garden snail, however, will not do.

Helen rears the fruit-fed Helix aspersa maxima edible snail, which takes six months from egg to table. Described as the Gloucester Old Spot Pig of the snail world, they have been bred to grow faster and bigger.

Helen said snails were introduced to Britain by the Romans, while in the Middle Ages monasteries grew their own snails so they could be feasted on during Lent, when eating meat was forbidden.

She added: “Snails are tasty, nutritious and very healthy. I am urging people to put aside their bias and give them a go. This is a chance for gardeners to get their own back!”

The £29.95 snail kits come with dry food for baby snails which later feed on waste fruit and veg as they mature. Go to 8 snailfarm.org.uk. Helen will showcase her snails at The Edible Garden Show in Warwickshire on 16-18 March. Call (0844) 338 8001 or visit www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk for details.