While I don’t advocate constant clipping and snipping of plants, formal hedges should be pruned on a regular basis. The number of cuts will depend on the species of plant and the speed of growth. Usually two cuts a year will be necessary to keep a hedge tidy, but some owners are rightly proud of [...]
When a shrub becomes very old, its lower branches devoid of foliage, with all the new growth and flowers high up, it is time-to reassess its value in the garden. There are three options: leave the plant alone, remove it by the root and replant it somewhere else, or try to rejuvenate it.
Rejuvenation requires a [...]
There are two types of vine: ornamental and fruiting. Ornamental varieties include Vitis ‘Brant’ (5-9), V.coignetiae and V. davidii (7-9), each with large leaves offering brilliant autumn color. Pruning of ornamental vines takes place every year in late w inter to encourage new growth. Plants grown in a confined space max also benefit from an [...]
Propagating from softwood cuttings is the technique commonly used for main shrubs and some climbers. These cuttings root easily, especially if they are cultivated in a propagating frame with some bottom heat and high humidity. ‘The best time to separate them from the parent shrub is in late spring or early summer, before the shoots [...]
This type of cutting comprises a full leaf attached to part of the plant stem with a growth but) in the axil of the leaf where the stem and leafstalk join. This method is most likely to succeed with camellias. The cuttings are taken in summer from current year’s growth that has started to firm [...]
Propagating by leaf is an efficient way of increasing your stock of house plants. Begonia rex, mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria spp.), and Cape primrose (Streptocarpus spp.) are all easy to root and are capable of producing many young plants from a single leaf. They may be rooted at any time of year, but in late spring [...]
Seedlings that were initially sown together to save space while germinating eventually get bigger and ate ready to be given their own pot, cell, or space in a tray. This is called pricking out and is usually done in place of, or at the same time as, thinning; it is most common with seedlings grown [...]
Pricking out is done to give each tiny seedling a bit more space to grow in. However, this is only the initial stage. As the plants get larger, they either need to be potted on (or “up”) into larger containers, or moved on to their permanent position in the garden. Every type of plant has [...]
Strawberries don’t grow very well in strawberry pots, but herbs flourish! To ensure even watering throughout the pot, follow point 2 below; alternatively, fill the tube from the center of a paper towel roll with crushed granite, plant the container, then gently ease the cardboard tube from the compost.
1. Line the base of the planter [...]
A strong-growing plant is more likely to withstand pest and disease attacks than a weak specimen. As gardeners, we must do everything we can to grow our plants well to prevent the problem arising in the first place??from choosing our plants wisely by only selecting healthy ones and rejecting any that are weak or disease-ridden, [...]