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Editor of the Year: Homes & Gardens

The energy we pour into

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Explore…
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See page 70.

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our gardens is always rewarded.
Whether creating a private
sanctuary, an entertaining
space or a holiday-at-home
destination, your nurturing of
that patch of ground beyond the
back door will repay you in kind.
Making a garden you love
should be a very personal
journey. Perhaps you do it to
connect with wildlife; or to turn
off the noise of modern life and
tune in to nature; or to create an
edible larder, a haven for raising kids, or just a space to sit and be...
Realising dreams is the thread that connects each of our creative
finalists in this year’s Gardens of the Year Competition, that starts
inside from page 49. All eight are regular gardeners who’ve made
extraordinary spaces through energy and hard work, of course, but
also by discovering a little bit more about themselves than before.
Our panel of judges, who brim with years of garden-making
experience, loved all eight finalists but were blown away by the
winning garden – which they agreed is a garden for our times.
Now it’s over to you to have your say, by voting for your favourite
in the People’s Choice, which is open for entries until 16 November.
Find out how on page 68, and we’ll share the winner next month.
Could it be you in these pages next year? Great gardens start with
a dream – where will yours take you? We can’t wait to see!

Listen out…

PHOTOS: VAL CORBETT; LUCY HALL
EDITOR’S PORTRAIT: JASON INGRAM

for Dame Judi Dench who
shares her passion for trees
in our autumn podcast season.
Tune in to Apple or Spotify
podcasts to hear her in full,
or via GardenersWorld.com/
podcast

Keep up to date with us at
FACEBOOK @GWmagazine
INSTAGRAM @gardenersworldmag
TWITTER @GWmag
PINTEREST @GWmag
Looking to get in touch? Turn to page 130
November 2022

Look out for your 2023 Calendar

Lucy Hall, Editor

@lucyhall_GW

next month, full of glorious images,
plus space for notes and key tasks
in the garden. On sale 17 November

PS ... we’ve an amazing subscription offer for you, to help you get

more from your garden in 2023. You’ll receive a gift pack worth up to
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3

We

November

Contents

On the cover…
36
118
82

We love...

6 We love November
12 Expert’s choice: carex
17 Full Monty: the trouble with rainwater
18 Have your say: readers’ letters
20 Clippings: news for gardeners
24 2 for 1 Gardens: city escapes

Offers for you

Do it now

72 Our winter container masterclass
82 Caring for giant house plants
118 Frances Tophill: pruning
rambling roses

Grow & Eat

72
42
86

offers

49
Gardens of the Year finalist Vicky Ward’s
garden in Polperro, Cornwall, by Jason Ingram

14

Be inspired

28 Adam on making the most of autumn
36 Monty’s adventures in Venice
42 Alan remembers HM The Queen
49 Gardens of the Year: meet our finalists
86 Growing Greener: no-dig growing

28

Enjoy the
scented blooms
of the snowball
tree in spring

FREE

14 Get a FREE snowball tree worth
£11 with every order

Subscribe today!

26 Subscribe to SAVE 32% and get
a limited edition bundle worth £167

42

129 Gift a subscription and SAVE
32% plus get a bundle worth £120

Alan on his
gardening
moments with
The Queen

92 Rekha’s saffron harvest and sweet treat
97 Your growing guide for the month

Wildlife

90 What to spot in November

Q&A

123 Spotlight on garden lichens
124 Gardeners’ Question Time

Last words

130 Crossword
144 Next month
146 Tales from Titchmarsh

70

Savour the beauty of
Plas Cadnant Hidden
Gardens on Anglesey

72

Travel

92
Rehka’s advice
on harvesting
leeks and other
winter goodies

70 Discover the gardens and castles
of North Wales on our exclusive tour

Plants

77 Save £10 on winter-hardy hellebores
115 Free delivery on bulbs

For more great offers visit:
GardenersWorld.com/
garden-offers
4

GardenersWorld.com

Brighten up your
plot with colourful
winter containers

86
Discover how to
boost and protect
your soil

November 2022

49
Discover the
Judges’ Choice
winner and
cast your vote in
the People’s
Choice awards

28
Adam shares how
to keep autumn
colour going

Your 10-page
November planner

82

50 things to do
this month

36
Monty reveals
Venice’s hidden
garden gems

November 2022

Monty’s month 101
Flowers 105
Fruit & veg 107
Greenhouse 113
Around the garden 117

GardenersWorld.com

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; DEAN & CHAPTER OF WESTMINSTER; PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/T SABLEAUX; JASON INGRAM;
DERRY MOORE PHOTOGRAPHY; ADRIAN TAYLOR. ILLUSTRATION: ELIN BROKENSHAW

Learn how to
look after giant
house plants

5

PHOTOS: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Welcome sweet
November, the
season of senses
and my favourite
month of all”
Gregory Lenz
6

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

We

November

We love
November
The pumpkins of Halloween are now
¿òæíæÅĄ ÓËßÓæ³Ì«Ë ËÓâ³ æ
ÓÌÓÓâæí ßæâÓææí° ÅÌϚÌ
í° æß³â³íÓª°â³æíËæϲí°Óò«°
ÅÓÓ˳̫Ìáò³í ßßâ Ìí³ÌÓòâ
æòß âËâ í³æÅ æϳ³æÌÓíĄ íí
ªòÅÅýÓÅòË c°³æ³æâ æíªòÅËÓÌí°
þ° â í° ĔâæíÓÅæß ÅÅæþ³ÅÅÓË 
íÓ³æÅÓ« í° ÅæíÓªí° òíòËÌ
ÓÅÓòâϚÌþ Ìíò³íÌ íÅĄþĄ
íÓË ÓËßÓæíÌÅ ªËÓòŪÓâ
Ì ăíæ æÓÌ.í³ææí³ÅÅþâË ÌÓò«°
ªÓâÓ˪ÓâíÅ «â ̳̫ϚĄ íí° 
weeds have stopped growing and
our lawns have settled into winter.
Ì¿ÓĄí° áò³ íЂ³íþÓÌЕíÅæíÅÓÌ«Ϝ
WORDS 9C]=yDYЈ].D=.Y

We all know and love dogwoods for their spectacular
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æÓË í³Ë ææ  °íí ÌòæíŠų 泳̫
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íí°³æí³Ë ÓªĄ âϚí° ÌíòâÅÅĄ°Ì«³Ì«Å ý æ «³Ì
íÓ«í° âíÓò°Óªòâ«òÌĄÌæÓÓÌí° Ąþ³ÅŪÅÅϚ
í° ³â¿ÓÓÌ òÌí³ÅÌ ăíĄ â
c° íâ í ÌæíÓÅÓÓÂí°³âæíĄ³ÌæòËË â òæ Óªí° 
âÓÓߥÅ ý æ]° Åí âªâÓËþ³ÌæÌÓÌÓíÓý âþí â
Height x Spread Ëă͵Ë

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

PHOTO: SARAH CUTTLE, THANKS TO RHS GARDEN WISLEY

STAR OF THE MONTH
Cornus kousa

7

OLD YELLER
If you were a European settler in America,
trundling your covered wagons around the
untamed wilderness, then you would be familiar
with the Kentucky yellowwood. It would not have
been much use to you (unless you were a bee
or using your spare moments for woodturning),
but it has evolved into a very useful garden tree
with scented flowers in spring and a cracking
organic-egg-yolk yellow leaf colour in autumn.

Cladrastis kentukea
Any soil, as long as it does not sit soggily in
heavy clay. Needs full sun. H x S 10m x 8m

GOLDEN GIRLS

Clematis tangutica
Not the right climber for smaller gardens!
Propagate from summer cuttings or by
layering. H x S 6m x 4m

8

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE, THANKS TO RHS GARDEN WISLEY;
JASON INGRAM, THANKS TO RHS GARDEN ROSEMOOR

Some plants are real value for money
and this is one of them. Golden-yellow,
ªÓòâЄß íÅÅ ĕÓþ âæϚų í° ° ÅË íæÓª
marching soldiers from a far-off empire,
ßß âÌÓíÓÌÅĄ³Ìæßâ³Ì«òíÅæÓĕÓþ â
again come the autumn. Then we have the
ßÅ æòâ Óªæ³ÅÂĄíÌ«Å Óªæ æíÓââĄ
us into the winter. Perfect for scrambling
up a tree or along a large trellis.

We

November

RED ALERT
Those of you who are up on their botanical
Latin will notice something spookily familiar
about the name of this plant. The hydrangea
part is pretty simple, but the quercifolia bit
tells us something – quercus is the Latin for
oak and folia for leaves, so this is a hydrangea
with oak-like leaves. Very lovely oak-like
leaves if I might say so, as they turn this
sensational deep red in autumn.

Hydrangea quercifolia
Happy in part shade in a border or woodland
fringe. Take soft cuttings in spring or, if you
forget, harder cuttings in winter.
H x S 2m x 2m

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

9

CUTTING EDGE
If you live in one of the milder parts of the
country, then this a treat for the exotic garden.
If the winter is kind and your garden sheltered,
it will throw up a red flower in early summer
as a reward. But these are just a bonus as the
main attraction is the glorious glaucous blue,
finely pleated foliage that will add a touch of
the tropics to any planting.

Melianthus major
Evergreen shrub sometimes grown as a
perennial. Mulch in winter as protection.
H x S 3m x 2m

Most camellias that you bump into are the Japanese
ones that flower (superlatively) in the spring. This one
is sometimes overlooked, which is a mistake as it
flowers (also superlatively) before Christmas. It also
has the same gloriously glossy-green leaves, but
is a little smaller, so is good in front gardens. A few
of these scented flowers floating in a bowl of water
will bring a little romance to your winter.

Camellia sasanqua ’Crimson King’
Need an acid soil if you are to get the best from them,
otherwise they are quite unfussy. Will cope in a pot.
H x S 2.5m x 2.5m
10

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM, THANKS TO SIR HAROLD HILLIER
GARDEN AND WOLFGANG BOPP

WINTER ROMANCE

woodlandtrust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust, Kempton Way, Grantham NG31 6LL. 0330 333 3300.
The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344) and in Scotland (No. SC038885).
A non-profit making company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No.1982873.
The Woodland Trust logo is a registered trademark. Image: Adam Burton/WTML CP00409 03/22

Carex muskingumensis

Dense clumps of slim red-brown foliage
look good with sedums or snowdrops.
Height x Spread 30cm x 50cm

Slender pale green leaves radiate from
the tops of the stems, like miniature
palm trees. H x S 75cm x 75cm

Carex oshimensis Everest

Carex testacea ‘Prairie Fire’

Neat habit featuring deep green, bright
white edged foliage. Pretty in a pot or
in groups. H x S 30cm x 30cm

Long, orange-flushed, arching foliage
develops into reddish-gold clumps
in winter. H x S 50cm x 50cm
PHOTOS: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; SARAH CUTTLE

12

Carex comans bronze-leaved

Carex
Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Foliage colour
Lift and divide

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

We

November

E x pe  ’s
c h oic e

Carex

It divides opinion, but this versatile
sedge is ready to add interest to
any garden, says Graham Rice
When a plant with brown evergreen leaves
and no flowers started appearing in nurseries, there
were two reactions from gardeners. There was,
“Wow, that’s interesting” and there was, “It’s dead!”
Well, with its coppery brown thread-like foliage
up to 90cm long it was definitely interesting – there
really wasn’t another plant like it – and it definitely
wasn’t dead. In fact, it was very easy to propagate
and before long nurseries across the country were
stocking a plant that some gardeners still refused
to have in their gardens.
This was Carex comans bronze-leaved (it still
doesn’t have a proper name) although the leaves are
really more coppery than true bronze. Enthusiasm
for it developed as grasses and grass-like plants
became fashionable and a few gardeners, needing
to prove that they were ahead of the rest of us,
smugly announced that they had the original greenleaved form, which, frankly, is not that special.
Now we grow well over 100 different sedges,
and Carex comans bronze-leaved is still popular.
However, varieties with wider, variegated or
brightly coloured, foliage are now the real stars.
Look for the Evercolor Series, developed in Ireland,
with nine neat, well-behaved ground-covering
varieties. These are very definitely interesting,
and definitely not dead.
■ Position Best in full sun in moist soil.
■ Planting Plant densely for the best weedsuppressing ground cover. Those with longer
foliage can trail from raised beds.
■ Care All are good in containers, either as
specimens or mixed, but ensure they never dry out.
Lift, split and replant the clumps if they become
thin in the centre, but assess each plant each year
as some rarely need dividing.
■ Where to buy ashwoodnurseries.com 01384
401996; crocus.co.uk 01344 578 000; knollgardens.
co.uk 01202 873931.

Carex elata ‘Aurea’
Arching, sunny yellow growth, with
upright flower stems from late spring.
Enjoys damp. H x S 70cm x 50cm
November 2022

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/

carex to discover more varieties of
carex and how to grow them
GardenersWorld.com

13

FREE
snowball tree
WORTH
£11

with every order of spring-flowering shrubs

Viburnum roseum
(snowball tree)
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Ìâ  ³ý ªâ æÌÓþÅÅ
íâ þÓâí°Ъ Viburnum
roseumßâÓò æÅòæí âæ
Óªòæí°íÓß ÌíÓªÓâË
þ°³í «ÅÓ ЄÅ³Â 
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ßÓÅųÌíÓâæ Y  ââ³ æ
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³âæÌí° ËßÅ Єæ°ß 
ªÓų« þ³ÅÅ°Ì« ÓÅÓòâíÓ
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rare | unusual | exciting

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Butter-yellow blooms in March and
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H x S 1.5m x 1.2m F Mar-Apr
1 plant in 9cm pot £16

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Large, double, highly fragrant blooms
smother the neat foliage through May
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H x S 90cm x 90m F May-Jul
1 plant in 9cm pot £17

01386 426245 (quote code ROGW)
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15

We

November

The Fu ll Mon ty

Recent rains may have filled our water butts, but it’s not enough – it’s time to
rethink how we garden given pressures on our water supply, says Monty
It is raining here, raining hard. The water
butts are overflowing and the puddles straddling
half the garden paths. The ground is skiddy with
mud. Three months ago, when we were desperate
for water, this would have been an idyllic picture
but now it is very wet and not in a good way. The
other day, I was reading a politician of some hue
saying that he didn’t know what all the climate
change fuss was about – that we have just as
much rainfall now as we had 100 years ago,
and people were making a fuss back then. It
demeans everyone to have to take this sort of
remark seriously but given that politicians are
in positions of power, if not responsibility, let
me highlight a few things – not least because
we gardeners feel this so acutely.
The first is that there are a lot more people
in the UK now than there were 100 years ago
– about 25 million, or an increase of over 50
per cent. The second thing is that a disastrous
amount of trapped and distributed rainwater –
to the tune of just under three billion litres every
single day – leaks in England and Wales before
it can be used. But much more significant than

If only we could store more
winter rain, it would make
a significant difference

PHOTO: JASON INGRAM

even this is that we are increasingly getting our
water at the wrong time. If our springs and
summers are becoming drier, it does not matter
how much rain you have in winter if you cannot
store it. Then if, as last winter, we have a dry
winter too, we are in real trouble.
This is obviously a national problem that
involves more reservoirs, more maintenance of
pipework and better management of how we
use our water. However, it also applies on a
micro level in each and every garden. Traditionally
garden water butts have served two primary
purposes. The first is to provide a source of
water for filling watering cans and the second is
to provide a source of rainwater for plants such
as citrus or ericaceous plants that suffer from
the lime that is often very prevalent in tap water.
But very few gardens use water butts as their
primary source of water, especially those with
space for a border or two and perhaps some
vegetables. I suspect that most people’s water

butts, such as they may be, are now overflowing.
However this is not just down to the large
quantity of rain that has fallen in the past couple
of days but also the limited quantity of water that
each container will hold. The whole water-saving
model that has been the norm in gardens for the
past 100 years or more no longer works.
We do not actually have water butts here at
Longmeadow as such, but use cattle troughs,
which have the great advantage of being slim
and open so you can fill cans by dipping – which
is 10 times quicker than filling them from a tap.
At present we have nine, all catching water
from the greenhouses. This is a lot of water
catchment but even this gives us barely enough
water to irrigate all our containers for a normal
week or about three very hot days. Then, when
we need the water most, they do not refill until
it rains when we only need to water inside the
greenhouses. Clearly, we need to think beyond
this. If only we could store more of this winter
rain, then it would make a significant difference.
On the Greek island of Hydra, where I have
been helping create a garden over the past six or
seven years, every household has a large cistern
beneath the back yard. Historically this was to
collect rainwater in winter, which was then used
for washing, cooking, watering herbs and even
drinking in the long, very dry, very hot summer
months. Increasingly I am thinking that this is the
kind of scale of water collection that we need on
a domestic level if we are to keep our gardens
sufficiently watered. When we came to
Longmeadow, we put in a septic tank under
what is now the Spring Garden. If I was to start
again, while the digger was at work, I would also
put in an equally big water tank underground
and feed the house gutters into it.
I realise that this is only one side of the
equation. Growing plants that need less water
has to be the other. Reducing the demand for
water is just as effective as increasing the supply.
We must rethink our whole concept of what is a
viable British summer garden. But, as I watch the
rain lash the windows and hear it gurgle and swirl
around the drains, I wish I could hang on to some
of it to draw upon next summer.

CATCH UP on any episodes of Gardeners’ World that you missed – or replay your favourites – on BBC iPlayer.
You can also listen to Monty’s latest podcast, on garden design, at GardenersWorld.com/podcast
November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

17

Have your say

The view from

your side of the fence

HOT TOPIC

Flying visit

Sensational seeds

I have just enjoyed reading of another reader’s
excitement at seeing a hummingbird hawk moth
(Have your say, October issue). My husband and
I love seeing these beautiful moths every year
in Turkey where, flitting about among their
glorious foliage, I fell in love with them.
Sitting outside in our garden one evening
this summer something whizzed past our heads
and landed among the ‘Hot Lips’ salvia – a
hummingbird hawk moth! I was absolutely
overjoyed. It visited the salvia every day for
weeks and I, like your reader, caught it on
camera. It has retreated now that the weather
has cooled, but this sighting has made my
summer. We haven’t travelled for two years,
but this little visitor more than made up for it.
Hayley Keating, by email

Thank you for the free cosmos seeds (June
issue). I’ve just won 1st prize and ‘Best in
Show’ at my local gardening club show
with these beautiful flowers (right). I received
numerous enquiries from members – even the
show judge – as to what they are called and
where one can obtain the seeds. The flowers
didn’t come into bloom until late August, but
that was my good fortune as they were at
their best for the show on 3 September.
Pauline Last, by email
The ‘Roma’ tomato seeds that came with your
magazine (March issue) have been a
great success. They have grown and fruited
very well, both in our greenhouse and outside.
We have been, and still are, enjoying them
very much roasted and in a farmhouse
brunch. I am also going to freeze some and
put them in ice cube holders ready to add to
winter casseroles, so many thanks for them.
I am very much hoping that if free seeds are
planned for next year ‘Roma’ tomatoes will be

Our free Cosmos ‘Sea Shells’ seeds proved
to be a winner for Pauline

on the list. It was lovely to watch them grow
and even better to eat them.
Daphne Askew, Cambridge
SUBSCRIBERS See p26-27 to discover which
free seeds we’ll be giving away next year

WE SAY: According to the British Trust for
Ornithology, there was a fourfold increase in
hummingbird hawk moth sightings in UK
gardens for 2022 – a record year – and rising
temperatures may see even more. Find out
more at bit.ly/BTO-hummingbird-hawkmoth

Falling in love with autumn
Start ‘em young

Henry and Leo’s grow-your-own success

Growing vegetables has recently become
a great pastime in our home. Being
a regular viewer of Gardeners’ World,
I took it upon myself to encourage my
two young sons (aged 2 and 4 years)
into the world of self-sufficiency.
We experienced a feeling of great
triumph while watching our vegetables
flourish, followed by notable excitement
to try our homegrown goods. We especially
enjoyed what has been a wonderful
way to bond as a small family!
Kind regards from what now feels like a
family of intermediate vegetable growers!
Linda, Henry (4) and Leo (2), by email

In your magazine’s 2020 We Love October,
I was captivated by James Alexander-Sinclair’s
masterpiece that began “October is a galleon
sailing”, and I gleefully sent it to my autumndespising friends and found that even their
hearts softened towards it.
Fast forward to 2022 and I find myself
falling out of an aeroplane with James while
girding my loins for the inevitable winter
to come. Please could someone buy James
a pumpkin latte and a string of fairy lights
as a matter of urgency? While 2022 has
undoubtedly been a difficult gardening
year, the simple joys of autumn are just
a quick walk outside and a deep inhale
away. Autumn-ho!
Ruth Witherall, by email

Wre to us at

Have your say, Gardeners’ World Magazine, Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT or email letters@gardenersworld.com
and you could win a prize. Letters or emails submitted may be edited for publication. Prizes sent to UK addresses only.

ACROSS 1 Brassicas 7 Weld 8 Apple 9 Rye 10 Die 11 Eyes 12 Kings 13 Slipper 15 Pasque 17 Sciarid 20 Tulips 22 Ixora 23 Aesculus 24 Husk
DOWN 1 Black spot 2 Alpines 3 Seeds 4 Cereal 5 Sweet pea 6 Fleece 13 Sessile 14 Red oak 16 Quince 18 Irish 19 Roots 21 Ulex

18

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

We

November

Just my cup of tea
I’d like to thank Alan for his
wonderful article on tea
breaks in the garden
(September issue). I am
absolutely with you there!
I thoroughly enjoy an
elevenses break while
doing the weeding.
My eldest daughter
used to bring me a cuppa
when I was out planting
bulbs in the cold and it
warmed up my freezing
hands! Now my daughter
has a family, garden and house of her own, and does her
own bulb planting. Sometimes I help with plants when
visiting. I live in north Germany (Schleswig-Holstein) about
one and a half hours from the Danish border, where we
often get high winds and rain. I always enjoy your articles.
Andrea Carle, by email

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November 2022

Plant a tree for
Queen Elizabeth

Grower Mr Fothergill’s plant trials programme has expanded to include tests of peat-free compost

Campaigners say the battle to remove peat
from compost isn’t over yet, despite the
Government confirming it will be illegal to sell
bagged compost that contains peat after 2024.
While the Government has declared a ban
on peat for amateur gardeners, it dropped a
proposed deadline of 2028 to remove peat from
professional horticulture, meaning growers can
still produce plants in peat-based compost. A
ban at some point is still on the table, and the
Government says it “continues to work closely
with the horticulture
industry” to help them
make the switch.
Nursery growers get
through over a million
cubic metres of
compost a year – and
over half (51.7 per cent)
is peat. Fewer than one in 10 of the UK’s 1,800
garden centres and nurseries have taken the
plunge and gone peat-free, but that doesn’t
mean they aren’t trying, says Horticultural
Trades Association president James Barnes.
He says, though growers are making progress
towards becoming peat-free, a shortage of

substitutes such as wood fibre and composted
bark is delaying the process: “The fundamental
issue is that there just won’t be enough peatfree compost to supply the nation.”
Like many growers, Suffolk-based
Mr Fothergill’s is trialling peat-free composts
before taking the plunge. This year it grew
tomatoes and petunias in both peat-free
and peat-based compost. Technical manager
David Fryer says those grown peat-free needed
more feeding, but it hasn’t put him off.
“We know peat isn’t
sustainable,” he says.
“We expect to be peatfree within two years.”
Dr Anton Rosenfeld of
Garden Organic says it’s
too little, too late: “It’s like
doing your homework on
the bus.” He says gardeners can avoid buying
plants grown in peat-based compost by raising
them from seedlings and cuttings at home
instead, and looking out for peat-free nurseries.
“There are pockets of encouragement – and
more places are switching to peat-free all the
time,” he adds.

The Queen’s Green Canopy tree
planting initiative, originally celebrating
Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee,
will now run until March 2023, after
King Charles said he wanted to give
people the chance to plant trees
in memory of his late mother.
Each memorial tree will join a
million already planted, all recorded
on an online map which stretches
from Penzance in Cornwall to the
Shetland Islands in Scotland.
“Planting trees for royalty goes
back a long way,” says Tony Kirkham,
former head of Kew’s arboretum.
He says, where space allows, longlived trees like English oak make the
most fitting tributes.
■ Record your own tree at queens
greencanopy.org
■ Read Alan Titchmarsh’s tribute
to Queen Elizabeth from p42

Growers use over a
million cubic metres of
compost a year, of which
just over half is peat

20

GardenersWorld.com

Grange Park Primary pupils plant a
tree with Sophie, Countess of Wessex

November 2022

We

November

Alcohol can help plants
ǫƎɭʠnjǠʋƎɽƃǫơʋǫɽʋɽ
Plants get through drought better if exposed to alcohol,
researchers at the Riken Center for Sustainable Resource
Science in Japan have found. Watering plants with
diluted ethanol prompted them to close their breathing
pores, so they lost less water through their leaves.
RHS Chief Horticulturist Guy Barter says more research
is needed – plus, vodka is expensive: “It would be cheaper
to buy more and bigger water butts,” he says.

NT unveils ruin garden
The Great Hall at Nymans, Sussex, is the theatrical
backdrop for the new Garden in the Ruins, full of
ferns, magnolias and eucryphias. The building was
destroyed by fire in 1947, but has now been remade
into an intimate, calming space for visitors.
■ nationaltrust.org.uk/nymans

While recent research suggests alcohol can help plants
survive drought, it’s cheaper to buy more water butts

Scheme turns old compost sacks into furniture
Recycling facilities for used compost sacks are to be rolled out in garden
centres nationally. It’s hoped the scheme, set up by Miracle-Gro and Veolia
in partnership with Dobbies Garden Centres, will turn about 40 million
sacks into garden furniture, plastic film and new bags. bit.ly/recycle-sacks

WORDS: SALLY NEX. PHOTOS: FERNATIX; MR FOTHERGILLS; NEIL
HEPWORTH; NATIONAL TRUST/GARY COSHAM; DENISE PALLETT;
THE QUEEN’S GREEN CANOPY; VEOLIA

Energy prices drive small growers online
Small, specialist nurseries faced with
quadrupling energy bills and rising fuel
costs are turning away from traditional
sales benches and flower shows to sell
online instead.
Steven Fletcher, of fern specialists
Fernatix, says he no longer goes to
flower shows because of fuel costs,
and because it’s easier to sell online.
“I rely on mail order,” he says.
Many nursery owners are simply
taking retirement. Ursula Key-Davis and
her sibling co-owners are retiring and
closing pelargonium nursery Fibrex.
“Everything’s stacking up so it’s the
November 2022

right time to go,” she says. She has
rehomed the nursery’s two National
Collections – but worries similar closures
might mean rare plants become less
available. “Where are people going
to get these things once we’re gone?”
Meanwhile a new wave of small-scale
growers is bypassing traditional selling
altogether. Harriet Thompson, of
Harriet’s Plants, relies solely on social
media to market the peat-free house
plants grown in her Staffordshire
greenhouse. “I don’t have a shop front,”
she says. “So I don’t have to pay rent,
or high electricity costs. It’s great.”

Steven Fletcher of fern nursery Fernatix has found that
online sales are outstripping those made face-to-face

GardenersWorld.com

21

We

November

News in brief
My gardening world

Pam Ayres
A regular on radio and TV, writer
Pam Ayres is known for her warm,
insightful poems about everyday life.
She’s a keen wildlife gardener and
her latest book, Who Are You Calling
Vermin?, defends grey squirrels, moles
and dung beetles. She lives in the
Cotswolds with her husband, theatre
producer Dudley Russell.

What can gardeners do to attract
wildlife into the garden?
I’ve got a huge pile of what most people would
look upon as a bonfire – a great big pile of sticks
and prunings. I’ve got it enclosed in hazel
hurdles but I will never set fire to it because
it’s full of insects, and the hedgehogs go in
there, and little voles too – I call it a ‘non-fire’.
Where do you get your lifelong
love of gardening from?
My dad. I was born in 1947 in a council house,
one of six children. All the houses had a long
garden, and every evening the dads were out

22

Pam Ayres is passionate about wildlife

there growing food – they weren’t doing it
for pleasure, they had to feed their families.
My dad was a marvellous gardener – you’d
have a great patch of potatoes, rows of runner
beans and a big block of broad beans.
Your new book isn’t afraid to tackle
some thorny issues to do with our
attitudes to the countryside. Would
you say you’re a campaigner?
I’m not a tub-thumper, but the reason I feel
so passionate about what’s happening in the
countryside is that I have seen the decline.
Just after the war, you took it for granted
that the cuckoo would come in the spring,
and swifts and swallows would come in
their thousands, and there would be frogs
and toads in the garden, and water voles
in the brooks. And all this has just gone.
So in a tiny way I’m trying to arrest the
decline where I can.
■ Pam Ayres’ new book, Who Are You
Calling Vermin? (£12.99, Ebury Spotlight)
is now available to buy.

Ex-GW garden at risk

Bus stops for bees, please

Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, where presenter
Geoff Hamilton filmed GW in the 1980s and 1990s,
could close if plans to build a solar farm next door
go ahead, Geoff’s son Nick Hamilton has warned.
The 200-acre farm would power
14,400 homes. But Nick, who’s run
Barnsdale since Geoff’s death
in 1996, says the tall panels
will dominate the garden.
“It has great potential to
close us down,” he says.
”We’re not anti-alternative
energy – it’s the right thing,
but in the wrong place.”
Developer Econergy says
it’s considering screening and
moving panels further away from
the garden’s boundary in response to Nick’s
concerns. “It is our intention to minimise the
impact on the community,” said a spokesperson.

Apprentices from the Eden Project in Cornwall
have turned bus shelters into feeding stations
for pollinators. Each ‘Buzz Stop’ has troughs
of wildflowers and vertical ‘moon gardens’
for moths. “They’re like transport cafés for
insects,” says the Eden Project’s Community
Programmes Manager, Juliet Rose.
■ For more on the Eden Project’s wildflower
planting projects, visit bit.ly/eden-wild

GardenersWorld.com

COASTAL PARK ‘FAVOURITE’
Penrhos Coastal Park in northwest Wales has been named
the UK’s favourite park following
a public vote. The spectacular
200-acre site near Holyhead
features historic buildings and its
own beach. kehoecountryside.
com/penrhos-coastal-park

2
GO RAMBLING FOR
CHILDREN IN NEED
Take a walk in the country or at
your local park and raise money
for the BBC Children in Need
Appeal. Pick up your guide to this
year’s BBC Countryfile Ramble at
bbcchildreninneed.co.uk

3
POISONOUS COLLECTION
A gardener who fell in love with
highly poisonous monkshoods
(Aconitum) after a chance
seedling sprang up in her
Hertfordshire garden now has a
new National Collection of 40
varieties, open to visitors by
appointment. plantheritage.org

4

FOOD FOR THE FUTURE
Kew’s newly redeveloped
sustainable kitchen garden
has finished its first harvest.
Book your visit and check
out the Edible Science team
blog at bit.ly/kg-kew

5

Apprentices have created ‘Buzz Stops’ in
St Blazey, Treverbyn and Roche, Cornwall

ANT INVASION
After counting for some time,
scientists totted up how many
ants there are on Earth: 20
quadrillion. Each one is a key
player in ecosystems, say
researchers. bit.ly/howmanyants

November 2022

PHOTOS: CHANNEL 5; EDEN PROJECT; FIELDS IN TRUST; STEVE HAMILTON; RBG KEW/JEFF EDEN

What’s your gardening style?
I grow wholesome food for us to eat, and I
garden for wildlife. I try not to plant anything
unless it produces nectar, or berries, or
blossom. I’ve got lots of seats – there’s nothing
I like more than just sitting quietly and seeing
what’s around. I was sitting by one of the
borders and saw what I thought was a
Catherine wheel, all coiled up – then it
uncoiled and travelled away and it was
a tiny grass snake. If I hadn’t been sitting
there quietly I wouldn’t have seen it.

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Our research shows that impulsive investors could
be missing out on significant potential growth (we
call this the ‘Impatience Tax’).
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could have benefitted from added growth (up to
141%) based on analysis of past performance.
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The Profit from Patience Report, Alliance Trust, September 2022 alliancetrust.co.uk/patience

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2 for 1 en try
City escapes

There’s still much to see with the 2 for 1 Entry Card as autumn begins to set
in – this month we discover days out just a stone’s throw from major city centres
SAVE
£6

A walk in the park
One of the UK’s grandest parkland
estates, Lyme Park is 50 minutes
from central Manchester. Its 1,400
acres offer countless breathtaking
views. Walk to nearby Bowstones,
where on a clear day you can see
seven counties. Look out for stags
in the deer park and discover the
estate’s many enchanting follies.
Lyme Park is probably most
recognisable as the location for
that scene, in the BBC’s 1995
production of Pride and Prejudice
– the one where Mr Darcy takes
a dip in the lake (although in the
depths of November, we certainly
wouldn’t recommend it).
Open All year, daily. Card valid
for the whole property – check
website for house times. Card not
valid on bank holiday weekends.
nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme

24

GardenersWorld.com

Fit for a king
Part-medieval palace and part1930s manor house, Greenwich’s
Eltham Palace and Gardens has
been home to countless historical
figures – from a young Henry VIII
to the eccentric Courtauld family
and their pet lemur, Jongy.
Visit Eltham Palace to witness
a merging of the centuries – the
solemn majesty of the medieval
Great Hall giving way to the Great
Gatsby-esque luxury of its Art
Deco extension. In the gardens,
the moat reflects the changing
colours of every passing season.
Open Days and times vary – check
before visiting. Card valid for the
whole property. Card not valid
in school holidays or on event days.
english-heritage.org.uk/eltham
November 2022

PHOTOS: JEFF EDEN/RBG KEW; ENGLISH HERITAGE; NATIONAL TRUST IMAGES/
TONY BLACKET/ANNAPURNA MELLOR (NATIONALTRUSTIMAGES.ORG.UK)

SAVE
£16

We

Family favourite

November

SAVE
£13

The National Trust’s Gibside is
just 25 minutes from the centre
of Newcastle. Its 720 acres of
parkland provide the perfect
family day out, with grand vistas
and sheltered groves providing
real autumn spectacle. Though
Gibside Hall now lies in ruins, its
walled garden, neoclassical chapel
and towering Column to Liberty
all remain. Meanwhile, kids can
take a walk on the wild side
discovering the nature playscape,
den building area and bird hide.
Look out for red kites, willow tits
and the elusive roe deer.
Open All year, daily. 50% single
visitor discount applies. Card
not valid on bank holidays.
nationaltrust.org.uk/gibside

Botanical Brum
Another urban, tropical oasis,

SAVE
£7.50

is worth visiting at any time of
year. While the glasshouses offer
year-round colour, there’s also
plenty to see outside in November.
The white and pink-tinged flowers
of Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’
are blooming, while huge dawn
redwoods shimmer with a flamecoloured glow. Return from late May
for the butterfly house, using the
May 2023 issue’s 2 for 1 Entry Card.
Open Days and times vary –
check before visiting. birmingham
botanicalgardens.org.uk

Register for our 2 for 1 newsletter at

GardenersWorld.com/gardens

for more garden recommendations and updates

Kew, what a scorcher!
On a chilly day in London, there’s
no better way to escape the
weather than by experiencing
the tropical splendour of the
glasshouses at Kew Gardens.
Explore the climate-controlled
Princess of Wales Conservatory,
moving between arid zones,
filled with cacti, to steamy tropics
bursting with exotic orchids, giant
waterlilies, and carnivorous

SAVE
£13.50

pitcher plants. Take in the vast
Temperate House, with 1,500
species from Africa, Australia,
New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific.
Finally, if you’re still feeling
the chill, warm up by visiting the
Botanical Brasserie, the Orangery
or the Pavilion Bar and Grill.
Open All year, days and times
vary – check website before
visiting. kew.org

your 2 for 1 Entry Card from the May issue
to visit gardens listed in the guide and in our directory
Missed the May issue or need additional 2 for 1
cards? You can buy copies of the May issue at
GardenersWorld.com/gardens
■ Use

Before you set off
Always check the garden’s website and
the 2 for 1 Guide before visiting, as the
card may not be valid on specific days
and/or booking may be required. Note:
2 for 1 only available on adult tickets.
Share images of your best garden
visits using the hashtag #GW2for1

NEXT MONTH Join us on a seasonal tour of our most festive 2 for 1 gardens
November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

25

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November 2022

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27

PHOTO: SARAH CUTTLE

With a little bit of leaf-fall
opening up your view and
herbaceous plants yet to
disappear below ground,
now is the perfect moment
to review things and make
some autumnal additions

28

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

autumn colour

If summer has left
you with a few gaps,
now is a great time
to get planting while
the soil is warm and
there’s moisture
in the air

Savour the

season
Autumn’s not a time to tidy up and put your garden
to bed for winter, says Adam. Embrace the season and
revive your planting to bring interest for months to come

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

29

30

GardenersWorld.com

Adam’s pick of autumn performers
Now’s a great time to plant any of Adam’s top choices for a late-season display in years to come

Deschampsia cespitosa

Eryngium yuccifolium

A native grass that forms hairy mounds of darkgreen foliage. Flowers are cloud-like and the
plant works in sun or semi-shade. It colours
beautifully as the season moves on, with both
flower and leaves turning a soft beige. It works
really well with herbaceous planting, and does
like a little moisture in summer to look its best.
Height x spread 1.2m x 75cm

A good one for dry gardens – it loves mine!
This is what I would call a dramatic plant that
holds good architectural presence. The flowers
sit a metre or so high above the sword-like
foliage. The thistle-like flowers are a greenishwhite and will hold themselves well into winter
and look great worked in with ornamental
grasses. H x S 1.2m x 1m

Hydrangea quercifolia

Molinia caerulea ‘Moorhexe’

A striking plant that has become a bit of a
go-to. It’s rounded in form and carries large
oak-shaped leaves that turn a deep, rich red.
I also love the bark, which is tan in colour and
slowly sheds as the plant ages. Its creamy
white flowers appear from early summer,
turning pink through to a deep red as
autumn arrives. H x S 1.5m x 2m

A hard-working, compact grass that is narrow
and upright, so works well in a smaller place.
It flowers through the summer months, then
in late autumn the leaves turn to rusty red. This
plant really does flower its heart out. I have
used it in full sun or part shade and it does not
seem overly fussy. Just make sure the drainage
is reasonable. H x S 40cm x 20cm
November 2022

PHOTOS: ALAMY/TREVOR CHRISS/WIERT NIEUMAN/MATTHEW TAYLOR; TORIE CHUGG;
SARAH CUTTLE; GETTY/JACKY PARKER PHOTOGRAPHY/PR2IS/SEVEN75

A

fter taking on a new garden
this year and dealing with the
dry, hot summer, autumn has
never felt more welcome. For me, this has
always been a time of celebration, and a
time to take a moment and enjoy the season.
Misty mornings, dew-covered cobwebs and
the lowering of the light in the sky, which in
itself can be used to spot or back-light plants,
start to drive a change in the atmosphere
outside your back door. Autumn can be a
fast-changing season, with plants starting
to decay at varying rhythms. Something
magical starts to happen, and I love that
change of pace – rich leaf colour, ageing
seedheads and still a good show of flowers.
So why do so many people see autumn as
a time to tidy up and put the garden to bed
for winter? There’s so much still to enjoy
and, best of all, autumn is a great time to
look at your garden and start to understand
the structure and form of your planting.
When it comes to planting design, I tend
to look at my gardens in layers, from the
upper canopy of larger trees through to
the medium-to-small trees, then down to
shrubs, perennials and bulbs. This not only
helps me provide the garden with a good
backbone but also gives me the opportunity
to develop real seasonal interest. So, within
each layer of planting, I want to understand
what each group brings to the party,
particularly as the season draws to a close.
For autumn I like to develop the diversity
of textures, leaf types and foliage colours.
The shapes of flowers and seedheads are
also important, as are plants that will hold
great form as we move into the winter
months. I want the plants in my garden to
work hard, not just to be enjoyed for the
beauty of their sometimes-fleeting flowers.
Added to that, the garden is not just for me
– it’s also for the wildlife I share it with. How
we maintain our gardens can play a large
part in this, and if we are a little too tidy, we
can miss out on some wonderful moments.
One of my best memories from last year was
watching on as the goldfinches pillaged the
seedheads I had left in the garden.
A lot of our late-summer flowering plants
will carry great seedheads into the winter.
Grasses can provide softer colours that play
wonderfully with light. Shrubs and trees
provide intense, rich leaf colours from
crimson to gold as the season moves on.
Frost, winter sun and wind can all help
dictate the mood of your garden, and the
relationship between the elements and our
plants is key to any good planting scheme.
If, like me, summer has left you with a few
gaps, now is a great time to get planting while
the soil is still warm and there is moisture
in the air. Have you places that lack autumn
interest? If so, read on to discover my
favourite plants to give your garden a boost
now and in the winter months to come.

autumn colour

Symphyotrichum
turbinellum
This plant produces a mass of smallish flowers
which bees and butterflies flock to – but what
I really love is the near-black stems. It will work
on most soils, and in sun or part shade. It will
flower well into autumn and works well with
rudbeckias and taller grasses – a great one
for a little late joy. H x S 1.2m x 60cm

Phlomis russeliana
A plant that has good presence all year round.
It has wonderful, gradually spreading clumps
of large, soft, heart-shaped leaves and spikes
of rich, yellow flowers. Tough and long-lived
with a really strong form, this plant comes
into its own in the winter, when the spent
flower spikes are covered in frost. Happiest
in a sunny spot. H x S 90cm x 75cm
November 2022

Hylotelephium ‘Matrona’

Panicum virgatum
‘Shenandoah’

For me this is one of the best sedums. An
upright perennial with large, fleshy purpleflushed leaves, carried on deep-red stems.
From late summer it’s covered with clusters of
pale pink flowers that hold well into late autumn.
As winter arrives the whole plant can brown
but will still hold up well, providing a strong
form through the year-end. H x S 75 x 30cm

A clump-forming perennial grass with striking,
blue-green leaf colour, which takes on tones of
purple, burgundy and red in late summer, and
then forms stiff clumps that continue through
winter. Tiny purplish-red flowers at the end of
wiry stems from late summer into autumn.
Loves a sunny spot. H x S 90cm x 30cm

Eupatorium dubium
‘Baby Joe’

Anemone x hybrida
‘Honorine Jobert’

This little plant puts on a good performance and
it’s shorter than other eupatoriums. The fluffy,
mauve flowers are held on purple stems that
put on a show into autumn. As the seedheads
dry they offer lovely winter interest. Goes well
with grasses, veronicastrum and echinacea, and
grows in sun or part shade. H x S 1m x 80cm

This anemone gives an autumn border a boost
like late summer sun. It has simple, opencupped, white flowers that can hold a tinge of
pink on the underside. It makes a great autumn
focal point in a large container or border, and
is happy in either full sun or partial shade.
H x S 1.2m x 1.2m
GardenersWorld.com

31

Cotinus ‘Grace’

Amelanchier lamarckii

Known as the smoke bush. A large shrub that
has deep-purple, oval-shaped leaves which act
as a great foil for other planting. Smoke-like
flowers appear in the summer months, then
in autumn the leaves turn an incredible mix
of oranges and reds. It’s a tough plant and
responds well to being cut back hard every
four to five years. H x S 6m x 3m

A beautiful and versatile little tree that has
a lot to offer. In spring, star-shaped flowers
erupt along with soft, coppery-pink leaves
which evolve over summer. Flowers turn
to fruits that become purple-black as they
ripen, then as autumn arrives the leaves
turn yellow then later a dark red. Tolerates
a wide range of soil types. H x S 10m x 6m

Autumn is the perfect time to plant and
divide perennials – still-warm soil and
increased rainfall helps roots establish

Catch up with Adam

Euonymus europaeus
‘Red Cascade’
A native of European hedgerows that provides
a colourful show through the year. Small, yellow
flowers lead on to bright pinky-red ornamental
fruits that peel apart to reveal orange seeds. But
for me it really comes into its own in autumn,
when its green leaves turn spectacular shades
of yellow and red. H x S 3m x 2.5m

32

GardenersWorld.com

Cercidiphyllum japonicum
A medium-sized tree with small, heart-shaped
leaves that are flushed pink when young but
turn a deep, bright green in summer; in autumn
they turn beautiful shades of yellow, orange
and red. The best bit is that on autumn days
the leaves release a sweet, candy-floss smell
that holds in the air – kids love it. Can be grown
as a single- or multi-stem tree. H x S 10m x 4m

See the 2022 series of Gardeners’ World
on the BBC iPlayer, and listen to
Adam on the podcast at
GardenersWorld.com/
podcast/adam

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/
autumn-options to discover
more ideas for autumn colour
November 2022

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; GETTY/IVA VAGNEROVA; JASON INGRAM

autumn colour

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From botanical gardens to the exquisite Norwegian
Fjords, you can explore paradises all around the
world with P&O Cruises

Relax in tranquil Olden, Norway

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With the varied itineraries offered by
P&O Cruises, the world truly is your oyster.
Here are just a few of the incredible destinations
you can visit, and the unforgettable horticultural
wonders waiting for you at each one...
Barcelona – If you’re stopping in Barcelona,
make time to investigate Parc Güell with its
famous panoramic views of the city. At more than
17 hectares, you’ll find a wide variety of plant
species here, including Aleppo pines, olive trees,
carob trees, magnolias, wisteria and aromatic
plants, such as rosemary and lavender, along with
the architect Gaudí’s fascinating house, which is
open for you to explore.
Valencia – Spain is Europe’s largest orange
producer and two-thirds of the country’s harvest
comes from Valencia, so the Orange Orchard
Experience here is a must. Visiting Carcaixent
on the picturesque Orange Blossom Coast, you’ll
stroll through one of the region’s most impressive
orchards, with ancient trees that bear white
blossom in the spring and groan under the weight
of up to 500 fragrant oranges each in the autumn.
In this peaceful setting, you can enjoy tasting a
variety of produce, including orange liqueur and
tangy marmalade.
Martinique – You’ll be spoiled for natural
beauty in the Caribbean with its pristine whitesand beaches and aquamarine waters, but for
something more cultivated, head to Martinique’s
famous Clément Plantation House. Here you’ll
find a historic rum distillery (where you can
learn about its history and sample rum) and an
open-air contemporary art gallery, but the real
gem is the stunning botanical garden. It features
Take in the lush beauty
of the Caribbean

a collection of more than 300 tropical plants and
includes a palm grove with 30 different species,
a sugar cane field and a sculpture garden.
St Kitts – A cruise that stops in St Kitts will
give you the chance to immerse yourself in
Caribbean cuisine with a cooking lesson at
Fairview Great House, a 300-year-old former
colonial residence. But don’t miss the chance
to take a stroll through the lush botanical
gardens afterwards. Overlooking the sparkling
Caribbean Sea, this tropical oasis is picture
perfect – just keep an eye out for the vervet
monkeys, which love to eat from the gardens’
multitude of fruit trees.
Norwegian Fjords – You’ll get up close to
majestic mountains and waterfalls, and take in
breathtaking locations such as Geirangerfjord,
a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in this tranquil
region of Norway, but you’ll find a visit to the
charming village of Nordfjordeid from Olden
equally rewarding. You can stroll along the
banks of the river and relax in Saga Park, which
features a beach with fantastic views across the
fjord, while the restful Viking Park is home to the
Viking King’s grave, which dates back to 876.

“With the varied itineraries
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fleet in December, sails to the Caribbean and
the Mediterranean, and Iona, the most recent
addition, sails to the Norwegian Fjords and
parts of Europe. Both ships are powered by
liquified natural gas and offer world-class
facilities that will take your cruise holiday
to a whole new level.
Arvia features an impressive 12 restaurants,
including Green & Co, which serves exquisitely
crafted plant-based dishes, as well as sushi
courtesy of Mizuhana. Iona, meanwhile,
is home to the world’s first gin distillery at sea,
built in collaboration with the award-winning
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If you want to indulge your culinary passions
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*Terms and conditions Promoter is Carnival plc trading as P&O Cruises. Entrants must be UK residents (excluding Northern Ireland) aged 18 and over. Closing at 11.59pm on 4 January 2023. For full T&Cs, visit bit.ly/po-cruises-gwo

ith P&O Cruises, you can sail to 70
countries and up to 200 destinations,
including some of the world’s most
stunning locations, which is great news if you’re
a keen gardener. After all, part of the thrill of
going on holiday for you will be discovering
new exotic species and admiring the best plant
collections on the planet.

A spectacular
view down the
Grand Canal
towards Santa
Maria della Salute
from the gardens
of the Peggy
Guggenheim
Collection

Spend any time at all beyond the
obligatory St Mark’s Square and
you will catch glimpses of plants
and possible gardens
36

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

monty’s travels

My search for
hidden Venice
It may be defined by its relationship with water, but the iconic
Italian city is also home to some of Europe’s elusive gardens – escape
with Monty as he takes a journey to discover its secluded treasures
PHOTOS DERRY MOORE

Monty in the Cloister of the
Laurels, part of the Giorgio
Cini Foundation on the
Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

37

T

o go to Venice in search of gardens
might seem to be founded more
in hope than expectation. No city
is more beautiful or more romantic, but few
would stake its claim to fame on horticulture.
There are some public gardens, but space is
so short and so hard won that gardens might
seem an impossible luxury for most. But spend
any time at all beyond the obligatory visit to
St Mark’s Square and you will catch glimpses
of plants in passing and snatches of possible
gardens through gateways and doors. There is
wisteria reflected in the water as it falls in swags
over a wall, a magnolia hedged between two
buildings, or ivy capping a wall in green billows.
The signs are elusive and enigmatic, with little
clue as to the scale or content of any gardens
within – but it is evidence that they are there.
Gardens are essentially rooted in earth and
Venice is nothing if not a city of water. However,
the two do combine and at times gloriously so.
There are few better ways to start a day than
stepping from one’s hotel straight into a boat
and setting off down the back canals and
opening out onto the Grand Canal early on a
spring morning to visit gardens. No journey in
any city in the world is more beautiful and the
gardens are all integrally bound into this
beauty rather than being exceptional.

The bell tower of
St Mark’s looms above
Giardini Reali, a calm
retreat in central Venice

Some of this is to do with the way that Venice’s
existence depends upon the same contract with
nature that every gardener deals with. It is a
bargain whereby mankind manipulates and
controls the natural world to make something
beautiful and useful, but on licence – and
that licence can be withdrawn by weather,
negligence or misjudgement at any moment.
Every church, campanile, palazzo and
fondamenta has had to be stolen from the
waters and built on millions of wooden piles
driven into the mud of the lagoon. Venice itself
is actually made up of scores of islands, most
of them tiny and interlaced with canals and
bridges, as well as the thirty-odd inhabited
larger islands in the lagoon. Despite the
longevity of its medieval buildings and the
incredible labour and engineering skill
necessary to make them, there is the constant
threat of the sea reclaiming its own. The city
is slowly sinking and the waters slowly rising.
It does not bode well. Every now and then
an exceptional acqua alta sweeps away any
sense of a firm footing. Despite having lasted
with glory for over a thousand years it is a
fragile, anxious relationship. This, of course,
adds to the romanticism and gothic drama
of Venice, worn by time and tide, dressed in
fading finery as it slowly succumbs to the sea.
Historically gardens originated, as did the
campi, from open fields and pieces of land
where vegetables could be raised. As the campi
were paved over the gardens remained, and
other than on the Giudecca and the outlying
38

GardenersWorld.com

PHOTOS: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Making gardens

The garden of Palazzo
Cappello Malipiero makes
a big statement on the
Grand Canal, as roses
spill over its balustrade

November 2022

monty’s travels

Despite the longevity
of its medieval buildings
there is the constant
threat of the sea
reclaiming its own

Standing at the edge
of Palazzo Cappello
Malipiero, visitors
have the perfect view
of the Grand Canal

Behind closed doors
Most of the palazzos on the Grand
Canal rise directly out of the water
with no more than a landing stage
to moor up against. Very few have
gardens visible from the water, but
as our barge took us daily up and
down the Grand Canal one garden
shone out, a cut above any other,
by virtue of having swags of white
and pink roses spilling and billowing
down to the water over a stone
balustrade. In a city of water, stone
and brick this was a touch of softness
that trees or shrubs could not
emulate. With each pass, the desire
to go and see the rest of the garden
tantalisingly glimpsed between
the balusters as we sped by became
more urgent.
The garden belongs to Palazzo
Cappello Malipiero and is private.
Too private, it seemed, to be visited
or photographed, let alone filmed by
the film crew I had with me. Every day
November 2022

we passed it and every day it looked
lovelier. So we asked nicely, pulled
strings, asked again, but all to no avail.
Then, the day before we were due to
leave, word came that we could visit
for half an hour that afternoon. So
plans were hastily rearranged and
at the allotted time we duly presented
ourselves at the side entrance on
Salizzada Malipiero.
The palazzo itself and its
neighbouring buildings form a
tight frame of ochre walls but it is
the fourth wall, the view across the
canal to the palazzos on the other
side, that transforms it.
The width of the canal creates
room enough to give them balance
and remove any sense of being
overlooked and overwhelmed
whilst retaining proportion and
intimacy. It is the most perfect urban
setting that any garden might have
on this earth.
GardenersWorld.com

39

monty’s travels

Venice is a place of
carnival and opera and
this is also reflected in
their gardens

A private roof garden
hideaway filled with
cacti and other
sun-loving plants

This palm tree in Pa

Retreat in the city

On a hot late-summer afternoon
the Giardini Reali is a deliciously
cool, calm respite right at the
centre of Venice’s tourist frenzy.
The planting, dominated by shades
of cream and green, is restrained in
colour at this time of year, and yet
fulsome and generous in volume.
This makes the limited space – just
over one acre – seem much bigger.
This takes great confidence and
shows a real sureness of touch.
Plants spill and flow out of the
borders onto the immaculate white
gravel paths and yet hold their shape,
leaning on each other with easy and
restrained familiarity rather than
the slightly lurching, toppling growth
of many a late-summer border.

Pomegranates thrive in these
sheltered conditions and are a
focal point at the Giardini Reali

This feature is an extract
from Venetian Gardens,
the new hardback book by
Monty and photographer
Derry Moore (BBC Books,
£40). With extensive full
colour photography
throughout, Venetian
Gardens will give readers fresh new insight
into one of the world’s most beloved historic
cities – you won’t see Venice the same
way again. Place your order now at
bit.ly/Venetian-Gardens
■

Watch Monty in Venice
Follow Monty’s travels to Venice, where
he visited its gardens and explored the
region for his 2022 three-part series
Adriatic Gardens,
via the BBC iPlayer at
bbc.in/3e3P84j

NEXT MONTH Monty relishes homegrown fruit – plus how to ensure a great harvest next year
40

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

EXTRACTED FROM VENETIAN GARDENS BY MONTY DON AND DERRY MOORE,
BBC BOOKS, £40. PHOTOGRAPHY BY DERRY MOORE

islands – which had the space for larger
gardens that could grow a range of vegetables
and fruit, as well as small vineyards – they were
confined increasingly to small pieces of private
pleasure grounds for the wealthy. By the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gardens
were frequently enlarged by buying up and
then pulling down adjacent buildings. This
trend was radically reversed in the twentieth
century when formerly large gardens and
parks were eaten up by new developments such
as the railway station and Piazzale Roma, and
houses for those working on the projects.
Just as the artificiality and tenuous existence
of the city is suited to garden making, so too
is the introverted, rather secretive nature of
Venetians throughout the ages. In every sense
of the word no city state is more insular or
inward-looking. Their gardens are hidden
and very private partly due to the crowded,
condensed nature of the buildings but not least
because that suits the Venetian cast of mind.
Whilst there is an inherent secrecy and tribal
loyalty to all things Venetian – city over and
above country, church and any other Italian
region – Venice is also a place of carnival and
opera and this is also reflected in their gardens.
The idea of a garden as a place where one
can enjoy gardening is rarely the primary
consideration. They are made as a show,
a theatre often designed to be looked down on
as though from a box in the opera house. The
performance comes partly from the planting
and the statues but they are really the setting
for people, inhabiting the garden like a stage,
who make it come alive. But for all the outward
show, it is a private play, probably in Venetian
dialect, intended only for the select, trusted few.
Gardens always tell you as much about the
people that made and care for them as their
plants, and the mysterious nature of Venetian
gardens tells us much about Venice. However
often you visit – and I have been coming to
Venice for over 40 years and [photographer]
Derry over 60 – its beauty never wanes. It is
freshly life-enhancing every single time. But
that is only ever part of Venice’s story. The
sweeping, magisterial views of the Grand
Canal, St Mark’s Square or across the basin to
San Giorgio Maggiore are counterbalanced by
the sense that there is always something round
the corner, unseen, unknown and perhaps
unknowable. However often you visit, it
remains the most elusive of cities. □

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OUR QUEEN
REMEMBERED
Reflecting on The Queen’s lifelong love
of the natural world, Alan Titchmarsh
remembers his gardening encounters
with our late sovereign

Alan enjoyed many
encounters with
HM The Queen, who
shared his love of
plants – and humour

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE DEAN AND CHAPTER OF
WESTMINSTER; GETTY/POOL (TIM GRAHAM PICTURE LIBRARY)

M

42

y encounters with The Queen over the years
were many and varied: we planted a palm tree
together to celebrate the centenary of the
opening to the public of Osborne House on the Isle of Wight –
once the home of Queen Victoria, and given to the nation after
her death by King Edward VII. I say ‘we’ and, indeed, Her Majesty
did throw a couple of spadefuls of earth in the direction of the
plant, but she was then very happy to hand over the implement
and let me complete the operation, smiling wryly and indicating
with a raise of her arm my expertise to the surrounding
spectators, who broke into a round of applause.
Our very first encounter was slightly more nerve-wracking.
I had designed a ‘Country Kitchen Garden’ at the RHS Chelsea
Flower Show in 1985 and on the day of the royal visit – the
Monday of Chelsea week – I stood nervously by my plot
wearing, for some reason I now cannot fathom, a maroon- and
black-striped blazer I had found in a junk shop, a white shirt,
yellow bow tie and white trousers. I thought it unlikely that
Her Majesty would be shown my modest garden, replete with
flower borders, a miniature orchard underplanted with

GardenersWorld.com

tribute
Queen Elizabeth II
opened The Glasshouse
at RHS Garden Wisley,
Surrey, to celebrate the
garden’s bicentennial
year in 2007

LISTEN to more
of Alan’s encounters
with the Queen in our
new free podcast, on
Apple, Spotify and at
GardenersWorld.
com/podcast
November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

43

PHOTOS: GETTY/BETTMANN ARCHIVE/PAUL GROVER (POOL)/
KEYSTONE (HULTON ARCHIVE)/GEOFF PUGH (AFP)/LISA SHERIDAN
(STUDIO LISA, HUTTON ARCHIVE); IAN JONES

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP
LEFT: Queen Elizabeth II
and Alan planting a
palm tree at Osborne
House, Isle of Wight, in
2004; The Queen and
Prince Philip survey the
grounds of Sandringham
House, Norfolk;
Princesses Elizabeth
and Margaret, with
their parents King
George VI and the then
Queen Elizabeth explore
a rockery at the Royal
Lodge, Windsor; The
Queen toured this year’s
Chelsea Flower Show by
golf buggy; Catherine,
Duchess of Cambridge,
explaining the garden
she helped design for
the 2019 Chelsea Flower
Show; Queen Elizabeth
II at Balmoral Castle
with a beloved corgi

44

She loved primroses, lily of the valley and
other modest blooms – something that spoke
volumes about her personality
wildflowers, a rill fed by water spilling out of an old village
pump and vegetables in neat rows either side of a brick path. I
was mistaken. Just as I assumed she would be whisked past my
creation, the president of the society ushered The Queen across
the wide expanse of tarmac and told her my name. For the first
time I found myself on the receiving end of that famous smile
and led Her Majesty forward to examine my handiwork. She
seemed genuinely interested and mentioned my “clipped ilex”.
GardenersWorld.com

Surprise number one: The Queen used the Latin name for holly.
Then her gaze turned towards my vegetables. “Your onions are
rather small,” she remarked. I found myself at a loss for an
excuse. I need not have worried. After a pause, she added, “I
like them small; when they’re large they taste of nothing at all.”
Over the next thirty-odd years my encounters with the
sovereign might have kept me on my mettle but they were
never less than enjoyable. I had the pleasure of sitting next
to her at lunch on a couple of occasions and found her
conversation to be relaxed, surprisingly opinionated and
well laced with humour. During her lifetime I adhered to
the maxim that private conversations with Her Majesty
remained private. Only now does it seem appropriate
to reflect on some of her likes and dislikes.
November 2022

tribute

Prince Philip’s gardening projects, for instance, did not
always meet with her approval. I remember her describing
the ‘water feature’ he was creating among trees to the south
west of Balmoral Castle as “not my sort of gardening”.
“What sort of gardening is that ma’am?” I enquired.
“The sort that uses a bulldozer” she replied.
The Queen’s preference was for posies rather than
bouquets. When in residence during the week at Buckingham
Palace, the gardeners would send up a fresh posy of flowers
for her desk every Monday on her return from Windsor Castle.
She loved primroses, lily of the valley and other modest
blooms far more than elaborate exotics – something that
speaks volumes about her personality.
Having addressed the Sandringham Women’s Institute
November 2022

Annual General Meeting in January 2000, I asked Her Majesty
if she found her Norfolk garden rather dull in winter. She
indicated otherwise. “I like the witch hazels,” she said,
“though they are now so tall I have to jump up to smell them”,
at which point she did a little jump in the air to demonstrate.
On my return home I ordered half a dozen young plants
to be dispatched to Sandringham and received a letter
of thanks for my trouble.
On her accession in 1952, The Queen appointed Prince Philip
as the Ranger of Windsor Great Park, and relied upon him to
take charge of new plantings there, and on the other royal
estates at Balmoral and Sandringham. After the publication of
my book Royal Gardeners in 2003, I sent a copy to the palace –
and received thanks and a long letter in reply from Prince Philip
GardenersWorld.com

45

tribute

The Queen’s life in gardening
We highlight a few significant moments from Queen
Elizabeth II’s lifelong involvement in horticulture
■ 1937 Aged 11, plants

her first tree, a yew,
in the grounds of her
childhood home at
Glamis Castle in
Scotland to mark her
father’s Coronation.
■ 1940 Tends fruit and
vegetables in a ‘Dig for
Victory’ allotment at
Windsor Castle with
her sister Princess
Margaret (left).

1940
■ 1953 The coronation

1953

bouquet included lily
of the valley, orchids,
stephanotis and
carnations (right).
■ 1955 First visit to the
RHS Chelsea Flower
Show as Queen.
■ 2000 Presents GW’s
Alan Titchmarsh with
an MBE, famously
telling him, “You’ve
given a lot of ladies
a lot of pleasure”.

2009

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles at Frogmore House, Windsor, in 2021

presents Prince Charles
with the Victoria
Medal of Honour (left),
the highest award
given by the RHS.
■ 2009 Buckingham
Palace establishes
the Yard Bed, which
produces fresh fruit
and veg for the
Palace kitchens.

PHOTOS: ALAMY/PA IMAGES; GETTY/CHRIS JACKSON/ANDREW MILLIGAN (POOL, AFP)/MAX
MUMBY (INDIGO)/LISA SHERIDAN (STUDIO LISA, HULTON ARCHIVE)/SANG TAN (WPA POOL)

I feel privileged to have met The Queen and
Prince Philip, and enjoyed their company and
their devotion to the landscape they loved

46

explaining those projects he had undertaken that I had
somehow omitted to mention, among them an oak avenue in
the Home Park at Windsor, the redesigning of the East Terrace
at the castle, and the extension of the Lime Avenue at
Sandringham to mark The Queen’s Coronation along with
an avenue of copper beeches. A few years on, in 2014, I sent
Her Majesty a copy of my next royal book, The Queen’s Houses –
imagining that, on receipt, most books, including my own,
were flipped through and then passed on. But when we next
met, The Queen said, “I’m reading your book.”
“Which one?” I asked.
“The one about my houses,” she replied. “I’m reading about
Sandringham. I didn’t know all that. Fascinating.” I blush to
repeat the compliment, but it perfectly illustrates The Queen’s
kindness and her willingness to put every one she met at ease.
The garden at Buckingham Palace, grand though it is, is very
much an outdoor ‘function room’. The estates at Windsor,
Sandringham and Balmoral are more extensive and, along with
The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, readily demonstrate the
commitment of Queen Elizabeth II and her consort Prince
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to the greening of the planet.
I feel privileged to have met them both and enjoyed, at first
hand, their company, their conversation, their good humour
and their devotion to the landscape they loved. □
GardenersWorld.com

■ 2009 The Queen

■ 2018 Talks trees with

Sir David Attenborough
for ITV’s The Queen’s
Green Planet.
■ 2021 Plants the first
tree (right) for The
Queen’s Green Canopy,
a nationwide treeplanting initiative
to celebrate her
Platinum Jubilee.
■ 2022 The Queen’s
funeral wreath included
myrtle from the plant
that provided a sprig
for her wedding
bouquet, plus rosemary
for remembrance and
oak for strength (right).

2021

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Essential seasonal gardening reminders
Maximise crops for bumper harvests
Wildlife-friendly gardening projects

Perfect your pruning for best results

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Gardens of
the Year 2022

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; OLIVER DIXON; NEIL HEPWORTH; JASON INGRAM

WORDS ADAM DUXBURY

Finally, it’s time to reveal
the Judges’ Choice winner
from our 2022 Gardens of
the Year competition. Next
month, we’ll unveil the Highly
Commended garden and in
January we’ll show you who
GW readers have picked for
the People’s Choice award –
vote for your favourite garden
at GardenersWorld.com/
garden-competition
November 2022

Meet the judging panel
Alan Titchmarsh
TV presenter and GW magazine
regular Alan has created and cared
for countless beautiful gardens

Arit Anderson

Plus previous winners
This year we invited our 2021 winners
to cast their votes on the finalists:

Nadine
Mitschunas

Gardeners’ World TV presenter
Arit is a passionate supporter
of sustainable gardening

Judges’ Choice

Ann-Marie Powell

Highly Commended

Garden designer and presenter
Ann-Marie spearheads the My
Real Garden online community

Thomas Jose

Deanna &
Rob Halsall

People’s Choice

GardenersWorld.com

49

JUDGES’ CHOICE

“As soon as I walk down
here, I just feel like I’ve
gone on holiday”

Nicola House, Kent

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS

“Every meal I can, I eat outside…
It is 100 per cent my happy place”

50

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

Nicola House has
transformed her
32-metre garden into
a restful idyll that’s a
million miles from the
cares of everyday life

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

51

Before

overgrown plot into a very special
garden for her and her two children.
It was in that year that Nicola became
a single mum and realised that a
garden full of beautiful plants,
vegetables and wildlife would be a
boon for both her and her kids.
Nicola’s son has complex special
needs and going on family holidays
can be a challenge. But after four
years of hard work, they now have a
holiday-at-home sanctuary where
friends, neighbours and family are
welcome, and every opportunity is
taken to spend time outdoors. Nicola’s
philosophy is to let the wildflowers
and wildlife appear where they like as
her garden continues to evolve – right
alongside her love of gardening.

What was the garden like
when you first moved in?
We moved here in 2015 and it was
February so I remember there
weren’t many plants. The top third
52

GardenersWorld.com

was all gravel and in the middle
there were 18 one-metre-square veg
beds that were completely rotten.
The willow tree covered the whole
garden, and the neighbour’s too.
It was full of wildflowers, but it was
also covered in old carpet and weedsuppressant fabric. It was quite like
a beach garden but there was no soil
anywhere except for in the veg beds.
Then, when spring came, it just sort
of exploded into a horrendous,
overgrown mess and I couldn’t
do anything with it at first!

Did you have a love for
gardening before?
Before creating the garden here
I can’t say I was ever massively into
gardening. I had a typical garden
previously but I love being outside
more than anything. I didn’t want
to move here at first. We had left our
old home because the owners sold it
and then we went and lived in a bell
tent for five months. When I first

Garden plan
At 32 metres long and nine metres wide, Nicola’s plot is a large,
open garden with heavy clay soil and views across fields to the rear

N
Willow
Garden retreat
Seating area

Apple tree

Veg beds

Seating area

Pond

Hut

Pool

House
November 2022

➋

walked through the door I was
crestfallen but I looked out the
window and my heart leapt because
I saw the garden. It was a ‘wow’
moment because of that millionpound view that just goes on forever.
I was nervous about having
neighbours as I’d never really had
them before. But fortunately, I have
the best neighbours in the world. At
one point the wind kept blowing our
fence down and in the end we said
‘let’s just leave it open’. And now their
dog comes round, their kids come
round – I think that’s something
people have lost, that connection
with their neighbours.

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS

How did you make the garden?
I tried to do bits and bobs for the first
few years and I spent a lot of time
pulling up grass because, although
it was gravel underneath, the grass
just kept poking up everywhere.
The kids just played in here like
it was a wilderness. But then in 2018
November 2022

There’s sustainable perennials, fruit and veg, loads
of colour – I love it. It looks a bit wild and not like
a conventional garden, and I love it for that
Nadine Mitschunas, Judges’ Choice 2021
➊ Nicola takes a
relaxed approach
to planting, mixing
ornamentals,
wildflowers,
veg and herbs

➌

➋ Recycling is key
in this garden
and almost every
structure has been
donated, upcycled
or repurposed

➌ Fun treasures – like
this old bike covered
in leafy growth –
await discovery

GardenersWorld.com

53

➊

I got divorced and I didn’t know
what to do with the garden, but I
knew I wanted to make it better. So
I hired a man with a digger for a day
and he just scraped everything off
into a pile. Then I dug the centre
section and turned it over so the clay
soil could crack and open up over
winter. The grass returned to cover
it in the spring and that year I also
met my now-partner. He realised
I needed some help, so he came over
and worked his way around, helping
me with more of the clearing.

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS

How did you choose the
plants in this garden?

54

There are lots of plants that I’ve
always loved but a big starting point
was what would benefit wildlife, too.
I let the wildflowers grow in amongst
the other plants. The verbena pops
up everywhere and there are wild
GardenersWorld.com

➊ Nicola experiments
with container
planting such as
these recycled pots
featuring echinops
and salvias

➋ There are several
seating areas to
take advantage
of sun and shade
throughout the day

➌ The family’s cosy
shed is a place to
eat, sleep and work

➍ Recycled pavers lead
the way down the
garden, flanked by
vegetable beds and
flower borders

➌
November 2022

➋

➍
This garden looks very ‘at one’ with
nature. I love how she has used recycling
to save money and yet still be so creative
Thomas Jose, People’s Choice winner, 2021
sweet peas, mullein, thistles and
feverfew, too. A good piece of advice
I learned was to look closely at the
wildflowers that grow in your area
and then try growing the cultivated
versions of those plants. I tame things
but I love embracing all the natural
plants. You do have to keep on top of
it, though, or the wild stuff takes over.

How do you enjoy the garden?
We can’t really go on holidays with
my son because he’s got complex
special needs and is too challenging
for everyone else. So we can recreate
that feeling of being on holiday by
November 2022

coming down to the shed. It’s great
in winter when we can light a fire
and eat all our meals and sleep
down here. Every meal I can, I eat
outside and as soon as I walk down
here, I just feel I’ve gone on holiday.
My daughter has her friends round
and the boy next door comes over and
they will all go in the pool. You can sit
in any of the chairs dotted around
and watch things happening or catch
the light at different times of the day.
It’s central to my wellbeing. Everyone
has their own sob story but when I’m
in the garden, there is no sob story.
It is 100 per cent my happy place.
GardenersWorld.com

55

Thoughts from the experts
Our judges loved Nicola House’s relaxed, wildlife-friendly garden and
unanimously agreed it should be the 2022 Judges’ Choice. Here, they reveal
what they loved most about this winning garden
Alan
Titchmarsh
To achieve
views like this,
Nicola’s got an
innate talent
and an eye. It looks like she’s
created her garden without being
constrained by what others think
and she clearly has a natural flair
for it. I can imagine the whole
garden must hum with birds,
bees and butterflies.
All of us on the judging
panel could see Nicola’s passion
in every part of her garden –
this is gardening with real
heart and soul.

Arit
Anderson
It’s just so joyful
and it looks
effortless
because you
can tell she’s enjoyed the process.
It could be daunting to
approach a space that big but
even though she didn’t garden
that much before, she knows
what’s needed for the kids.
Everyone’s talking about plant
diversity but here’s a gardener
who’s just doing it.
It really feels of the now, for
the environment, sustainability
and mental wellbeing.

Ann-Marie
Powell
I love everything
about this
garden and
Nicola clearly
has real individualism.
I think the way that the garden
bursts out into next door is great
and it feels like there are no
constraints.
It’s certainly a garden I would
like to hang out in. I like how
sustainable it all is and I just
love all the recycling – very little
money has been spent here but
the garden still looks wonderful
and has so much soul.

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Our winner can take a relaxing carriage ride on Mackinac Island

For full details of all prizes see

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; OLIVER DIXON; NEIL HEPWORTH

GardenersWorld.com/garden-competition

56

PLUS more prizes for finalists
The winners of the Highly
Commended and People’s
Choice awards will each receive
a power tool bundle courtesy
of Worx, worth £2,000.
This comprises a Landroid
robot mower and a range of
tools from the PowerShare
battery range (includes blowers,
grass trimmers, push mowers,
hedge trimmers, shrub shears,

GardenersWorld.com

garden sprayers and portable
pressure cleaners, subject
to stock availability).
With the versatile Worx
PowerShare range, you can do
all your jobs around the garden
with just one charger and a couple
of batteries. And with its awardwinning Landroid robotic mower
taking care of your lawn, there’s
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Do it better. Do it with Worx.

Plus… All eight finalists
have been awarded a professional
photoshoot of their garden and
be featured in Gardeners’ World
Magazine in 2022-23.

Two winners get a Worx Landroid
mower and PowerShare tools

November 2022

Meet our other finalists
Our 2022 competition proved to be another bumper year, as people shared their
cherished gardens from across the UK. Next month we’ll reveal our Highly Commended
garden, and we’ll also share pictures and stories of each finalist in full through 2023.
Vote for your favourite at GardenersWorld.com/garden-competition

Anthony Manning,
Nottinghamshire
Although only a moderately-sized
plot, Anthony’s tropical paradise
is a triumph of plantsmanship
and engineering. It features an
impressive array of dense jungle
planting and smart seating and
decking all designed and built by
Anthony himself. This garden is
a real jewel which Anthony and
his family enjoy all year round.

Tropical planting takes
centre stage in this
sheltered garden

The wooden decking
and covered areas have
all been constructed
by Anthony

This family loves to
spend time in their
garden all day long and
into the night

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

57

Ian Rayer-Smith,
Shropshire

PHOTOS: NEIL HEPWORTH

A converted chapel is the

backdrop to this charming country
garden which Ian and his partner
have been working on since 2010.
Despite having no gardening
experience, the pair set about
creating a stylish plot that blends
Italian and formal English styles
with relaxed planting schemes.
The judges loved the welcoming
ambience they have both achieved.

Ian’s plot mixes
charming English and
Italian garden styles

There are plenty of
places in which to
relax and unwind

Formal topiary and a
central stone urn are
balanced with more
informal planting

58

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

Dr John Butcher
& Dr Sarah Berry,
Shropshire
This couple have worked very

hard over the past three years to
transform an uninspiring plot into
a garden that’s bursting with plants
and filled with distinct zones waiting
to be explored. Although it’s only a
modest size they have incorporated
several seating areas, green roofs
and a greenhouse, and even open
for the National Garden Scheme.

This small garden is a
plant-lover’s dream,
where every space is
crammed with colour

The side passage
has been filled with
tropical plants

November 2022

It might be small but
there’s still space for
a pizza oven, potting
station and green roof

GardenersWorld.com

59

Lucious and
Fragrant
Witch Hazel

rare | unusual | exciting

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Kyla and her partner have
created a striking garden
view from within their home

Kyla La Grange,
London

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS

Stepping into Kyla and her

partner’s house and walking
through to their small urban
garden is like entering an oasis
of calm. Our judges loved how
the tropical planting merged with
woodland plants towards the rear,
creating a garden sanctuary
anyone would feel happy to
while away the hours in.

There is something to
discover around each
corner of this tiny plot

Kyla loves to sit and
surround herself
with plants and
wildlife visitors

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

61

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Matthew
Symonds, Bristol

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM

Matthew’s unusual garden is a

small courtyard space on the lower
floor to the rear of his home. He
wanted to create a serene and green
space to step into, and our judges
were impressed with how many
features he’d managed to pack in:
his pleached trees offer privacy,
while a water feature and dining
area create a relaxing environment.

Texture is key in
this shady spot, with
contrasting foliage
providing yearround interest

Steps lead up from the
basement garden to a
terrace filled with plants

November 2022

No space goes to waste in
Matthew’s tiny garden

GardenersWorld.com

63

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restricted delivery postcodes: BT,IM,JE,GY,HS,IV4,KA2,KW,PA,PH4,ZE,TR2. Register within 30 days of receipt of goods at RyobiTools.co.uk. Product sold by Techtronic Industries (UK) Limited,
company registration: GB 551396338. All rights reserved. For full terms & conditions of sale please visit RyobiTools.co.uk. RYOBI is a Trade Mark of Ryobi Limited, and is used under license.

Ross Lee
Harrison, Suffolk

PHOTOS: NEIL HEPWORTH

This young gardener fell in love

with plants recently after he went
from being homeless to living in
his own place with a modest garden
that he’s worked hard to transform.
Drawing on Eastern influences,
Ross wanted to create a place where
friends could hang out and he could
develop his passion for planting and
landscaping.

Enjoying the garden
with his friends
is important to Ross,
so he’s created plenty
of seating areas

An Eastern influence
can be seen in the use
of statues and the
planting of bamboos
and waving grasses

November 2022

Wildlife has somewhere
to visit, too, with this
moss-covered log pile

GardenersWorld.com

65

Vicky Ward &
Maxine Stringer,
Cornwall

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM

Vicky and her partner Maxine

submitted one of the most unusual
entries we’ve seen to date in the
Gardens of the Year competition.
Their plot perches just above the
sea on a coastal path in Cornwall.
Over several years they have been
slowly clearing the bramble-choked
garden by hand, creating 10 distinct
zones where they can relax and
experiment with plants.

At the bottom of the
plot sits ‘The Lookout’,
with commanding
views of the sea

One of Vicky and
Maxine’s first tasks was
to create a sheltered
spot in which to sit

November 2022

The latest addition is
an Italian-inspired
cooking area

GardenersWorld.com

67

PEOPLE’S CHOICE

Cast your vote

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; NEIL HEPWORTH; JASON INGRAM

It’s time to have your say – go to GardenersWorld.com/garden-competition
for more photos of all eight finalists and cast your vote for the People’s Choice
award. You’ll get to meet all of our finalists in forthcoming issues

Anthony Manning

Matthew Symonds

Ian Rayer-Smith

Ross Lee Harrison

Dr John Butcher & Dr Sarah Berry

Vicky Ward & Maxine Stringer

Kyla La Grange

Nicola House

Voting closes at midday on 16 November

Vote now at GardenersWorld.com/garden-competition
The People’s Choice garden will be revealed in our January 2023 issue
68

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

Babs and Vic and (right)
have both pledged gifts
in their Wills to Cancer
Research UK

A brighter
future
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Cancer Research UK in their Wills
ife hasn’t always been easy for Vic
and Babs. When they met, the pair had
both lost their spouses to cancer, and
Vic had also been diagnosed with the disease
twice himself. After marrying in 2013, their
shared experiences motivated them to
become committed supporters of Cancer
Research UK. They have even pledged gifts
in their Wills – a life-saving legacy to help beat
cancer for future generations.
“For many people, the word ‘cancer’ still has
that dread factor,” says Babs. “When my late
husband was ill, I used to pray that someone
would find the missing piece of the puzzle to cure
him. The more money that Cancer Research UK
receives from legacies, the more research they
can do to find those missing puzzle pieces and
save lives. These days, there are so many brilliant
new treatments, and it’s so exciting to play a part
in furthering that research.”

L

Making a difference
One in two people in the UK born after 1960 will
get cancer in their lifetime¹. But survival in the
UK has doubled in the last 40 years, and this is
thanks, in part, to scientific advancements. Vic
knows all too well the power these advancements
can have, having undergone radiotherapy for
laryngeal cancer, and later receiving treatment
for basal cell skin cancer on his face and scalp.
Cancer Research UK played a key role in the
development of radiotherapy, and has made vital
contributions to finding new and better ways to
prevent, diagnose and treat skin cancer.
Vic’s experience, coupled with the loss of his
late wife to bowel cancer, prompted Vic to pledge
a gift in his Will to Cancer Research UK. “Being
invited on lab tours and seeing the research is
very motivational,” he says. “It’s so exciting to
hear about new initiatives, such as the potential
of a ‘breath test’ to detect cancer. It feels like
there’s so much happening in the field and I hope
for a day when no one has to fear cancer.”
Gifts in Wills enable Cancer Research UK
to plan long-term research projects, which
will lead to new treatments that will help beat
cancer for future generations.

Leave a gift
Currently, gifts in Wills fund a third
of Cancer Research UK’s life-saving
work, supporting vital research into the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
cancer through the efforts of more than
4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
Today, two in four people survive
their cancer for at least 10 years,
but Cancer Research UK wants to
accelerate this progress so that three
in four people will survive their disease
by 2034. If you would like to support
the research that will make this happen,
find out more about how you can play
your part with a gift in your Will.

To find out more about the power of leaving
a legacy, visit cruk.org/legacy
1
Ahmad AS et al. British Journal of Cancer, 2015. Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464),
Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247).

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November 2022

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71

➋

➊
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72

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November 2022

winter containers

Pot up these

warming
wonders

Give your patio, doorstep or balcony a
colourful boost with these seasonal pot
combinations from Bob Purnell
PHOTOS JASON INGRAM

The exuberant floweriness
of summer may be well behind us
but there’s much still to appreciate
in our gardens, even as flowers
continue to dwindle and leaf fall
quickens. Containers offer an easy,
effective and affordable way of
bringing the finest of any season
into focus, cheering up even
very restricted spaces.
In the low-slung sunlight of bright
autumnal days, seasonally tinted
leaves are illuminated like stained
glass, while back-lit blooms turn
thrillingly translucent, and feathery
grasses are haloed mesmerisingly.
Each of our pots is planted to take
advantage of this engaging extra

dimension and look their best sited
where they can fully catch the light.
Although much more understated
than their summer counterparts,
these still striking and colourful
planting combinations are designed
to carry us gently toward winter
and to maintain some interest
through the coolest months.
We’ve chosen plants carefully
so that, with the exception of the
violas, all should live on for years,
whether in pots or in the ground.
And ours is only a small selection
of the many plants with autumn
appeal: there are lots of grasses,
evergreens and late-flowering
perennials to choose from.

Catch the light, raise your spirits
Grasses, in all their variety, are
hard to beat for long-lasting
autumn attraction and even in
their straw-like winter guise they
add structure and texture, as
well as subtle colour.
Japanese forest grass excels
in pots, its swishy, arching leaves
turning yellow and gold before
going shades of umber and ochre
as they wither. Provided they don’t
get too dry or overheated, ferns
are also one hundred per cent
reliable in pots.
We’ve nestled a feathery soft
shield fern to contrast against
the Japanese forest grass, with
sprawling plumbago completing
the trio. In addition to their striking
blue flowers which often linger
late in the year, the small, rounded
leaves of the latter turn vermillion,
scarlet and ruby-red.
November 2022

Made to last, the colourful and
highly textured lava-glaze pot adds
loads of aesthetic appeal and is
worth every penny. Having spent
the summer residing in a spot away
from the very fiercest sunshine,
this arrangement performed even
better the following year, although
it will eventually need dismantling.
In spring, pull or cut away old forest
grass leaves and fern fronds to
reveal fresh shoots.

We used

➊ Ceratostigma griffithii
(Griffith’s plumbago) x 1
❷ Hakonechloa macra
(Japanese forest grass) x 1
➌ Polystichum setiferum
‘Herrenhausen’ (soft
shield fern) x 1
➍ 36cm Oceanstone glazed
vase (£59.99, crocus.co.uk)
GardenersWorld.com

73

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winter containers

Swish and sway
As summer and autumn meld,
the green blades of graceful
anemanthele turn shades of russet,
bronze and copper, achieving
a shimmering presence that
continues long into winter.
This is a potful that is at its most
potent out in an open spot where
the grass will sway animatedly
whenever the wind blows, and
tumbling euphorbia adds extra
flow. The elegant flowers of
hesperantha spear up from grasslike clumps in late summer and
continue for many weeks, here
rising informally from among the
autumn-tinted grass to create
a naturalistic feel.
Simple glazed earthenware
containers in neutral shades are,
unlike brightly coloured or heavily
patterned options, timeless in their
appeal and complement the widest
variety of plants and planting
schemes. They are also generally
very robust so are a wise purchase.
They perfectly show off foliage
plants such as the anemanthele
and euphorbia here. Separate
the individual plants in spring
and plant out or pot on.

➊

➋

We used

➊ Hesperantha coccinea

➌

‘Oregon Sunset’
(crimson flag lily) x 1
❷ Anemanthele lessoniana
(pheasant’s tail grass) x 2
❸ Euphorbia ‘Blue Haze’
(spurge) x 1
➍ 36cm Richmond glazed tub
by Mims Pottery (around
£25 from garden centres)

➍

Hesperantha will flower when
many other plants are shutting
up shop for autumn and winter

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

75

winter containers

Golden glow
Because we tucked this planting
into a sheltered corner last winter,
it was just as fresh and impactful
the following April as in the October
it was first potted up.
Terracotta is a perfect choice
of material here, bumping up the
warm glow that emanates from this
cosy plant selection.
While the violas become more
shy to bloom as temperatures drop,
they greet the warmth of spring
with a colourful flourish. Help them
along by snipping off any yellowing
leaves and faded flowers. Also
consider the bright petals as an
interesting cold-season salad
garnish, or have a go at crystallising
them as edible decorations for
cakes and puddings.
Flanked by diminutive thymes,
the attention-grabbing centrepiece,
here is a clump of richly coloured
variegated libertia, a grass-like
evergreen perennial with narrow
leaves arranged in fans. Thymes
are old faithfuls for containers,
with the bushy ‘Silver Posie’ being
among the finest. An occasional
light trim and snipping a sprig or
two for the kitchen will help keep
them in their prime.

➊
➋
➍

We used

➊ Libertia ixioides ‘Goldfinger’
(Chilean iris) x 1
❷ Thymus ‘Silver Posie’
(thyme) x 2
❸ Thymus ‘Archer’s Gold’
(thyme) x 2
❹ Viola ‘Sorbet Honeybee’ x 5
❺ 30cm classic, flared square
terracotta container by
Mims Pottery (around £25
from garden centres)

➌

➎

Maximise the violas’ flowers by
putting this pot in a sunny spot

76

GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

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Their evergreen foliage also means
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winter containers

Blueberries
and bugle

➊

➋

➍
➌

Among the easiest to grow of all
fruits and offering triple appeal,
blueberries can make first-class
container plants. Clusters of tiny,
white spring flowers are followed
by the highly nutritious summer
berries, which this year we picked
and devoured as soon as they were
ripe in order to beat the blackbirds.
As autumn creeps in the leaves
turn fiery hues and seem to remain
on the plants much longer than
many other colouring leaves.
Although many varieties of
blueberry are self-fertile – ideal if
you are short on space – they tend
to crop better if you plant more
than one and should be potted
using an ericaceous compost.
At just 60cm high and wide,
‘Northcountry’ is a reliable,
compact variety that can live its
entire existence in a container.
Whilst in the longer term the
blueberry will be happier without
competition from other plants, it will
be fine initially with a few shallowrooted companions tickling around
its feet. This combination of bugles
fits the bill well, as do autumnflowering cyclamen, both of which
can be shifted to the garden
or other pots come spring.

We used

➊ Vaccinium ‘Northcountry’
(blueberry) x 1

❷ Ajuga reptans ‘Braunherz’

➎

(bugle) x 2
➌ Cyclamen hederifolium
Silver-leaved Group x 2
➍ Ajuga reptans ‘Burgundy
Glow‘ (bugle) x 3
➎ 34cm terracotta pot (around
£24 from garden centres)

Cyclamen foliage provides interest
even when the flowers are scarce

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

79

winter containers

How to plant your seasonal pot

Keep your containers
looking good all winter
◼ With a bit of care, our autumn pots,
as well as most other planted containers,
can be successfully brought through winter
to be in the best shape possible as spring
arrives. A quality frost-proof pot capable
of surviving an unpredictable British winter,
as well as withstanding impacts, without
cracking is a wise starting point. The saying
‘you get what you pay for’ is appropriate
and so, although not cheap, a well-made pot
is an investment that should last a lifetime.

1

Half-fill your pot with a good quality, peatfree multi-purpose compost. Raise the
pot on bricks or pot feet, and ensure the holes
at the bottom of the container are sufficient
to allow water to drain away easily.

2

Position the largest plant first: in this case
a libertia in the centre of the pot. Carefully
tap it from its nursery pot, and tease out the
roots if they are congested. Once it’s in place,
add a little more compost around the roots.

◼ If your pots aren’t frost-proof, or you are
not sure, it makes sense either to move
them to as sheltered a place as possible,
or to use sacking or bubble wrap to insulate
them during very cold periods. Better still,
do both. Although many plants will survive
short periods in compost that is frozen
solid, wrapping the pots will also help
prevent such stress. Lay horticultural
fleece over the tops of plants liable to frost
damage but try not to leave it on longer than
necessary as this restricts air circulation.
If you have several pots, try huddling them
tightly together in a community so that they
offer some protection to each other.
◼ Plants need much less water in winter
than in other seasons, and compost dries
out much more slowly, but don’t assume
watering to be unnecessary. It’s best to
check at least weekly. During prolonged dry
periods, unseasonably warm or especially
windy conditions containers can still dry
out: evergreens, particularly, will continue
to draw moisture to replace that lost
through their leaves.
Conversely, plants that are waterlogged
will quickly look sad and are more difficult
to revive than those that have dried out a
little, so it is better to err on the side of
caution to avoid over-watering. Try not to
water at all if especially low temperatures
are forecast. Raising pots off the ground,
whether on bricks, blocks of wood or
purpose-made pot feet will also help
ensure the compost drains properly.
◼ General maintenance jobs such as
deadheading and removing dying or
damaged leaves can be done much less
frequently in winter, but still remember
to do so at regular intervals.

3

Plant the thymes to tumble over each
corner of the pot, and in-fill with violas,
planting densely for instant effect. Fill in
between the plants with compost and firm
gently with your fingers.
80

GardenersWorld.com

4

Water thoroughly to settle the compost
around the roots. Although pots need less
water in autumn and winter they may still dry
out, so check at least once a week. Regularly
pick off faded flowers and damaged leaves.

◼ Finally, when planting pots for autumn
and winter, consider extending their period
of interest by dropping in a few spring bulbs
at planting time. The average pot won’t
need many – perhaps a few dwarf irises,
grape hyacinths or miniature narcissi.

November 2022

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House plants

going big!
Huge indoor plants have never been more popular.
House-plant expert Joe Bagley shares his advice on
buying, growing and caring for these green giants

Large house plants are arguably far
easier to grow successfully than smaller
ones; for example, the much greater volume
of compost in the container will result in an
improved ability to retain moisture over time,
which means that forgetful gardeners won’t be
punished so harshly for leaving these plants
unattended for long periods. Secondly, larger
leaves will capture more light energy that can
then be reinvested in varying departments of
the plant, such as the roots and new leaves.
So, read on as I highlight here the dos and
don’ts of growing statement plants in the
home, along with my top 10 picks to look
out for should you wish to go big.

PHOTO: GETTY/T SABLEAUX

Bare necessities

82

The desire to have a large statement plant
in your home will usually stem from one of
two thoughts: there may be a certain empty
space in a room that needs filling up, or you
may just want a bit of greenery added
somewhere in your home.
Choosing a suitable house plant species
is relatively simple, but start off by studying
the characteristics of the space in your home.
For example, the amount of sunlight or indirect
light the plant will receive once in place is by
far the most critical aspect to success, and
this is where you should aim to replicate the
lighting of its natural habitat.
Once you have met your house plant’s light
needs, the rest of its care requirements will
be far easier to manage. I’ve found that if the
plant is happy where it lives in your home, its
tolerance of our forgetfulness is much better
when it comes to watering or fertilising. Try
not to get overwhelmed by the complexities
of caring for the newest member of your
GardenersWorld.com

house-plant collection; as long as you
fulfil two important objectives – its light
and water requirements – everything
else will feel like a walk in the park.
My best tip for knowing when to
water your house plant is to gently lift
the container to feel its weight, and to
look at the texture of the compost itself.
If you’ve selected a leafy or tropicallooking species, ensure the compost’s
top quarter is dry before any watering,
whereas plants that prefer arid
locations such as yuccas will ideally
need to be entirely dry before
they are given another drink.
You can either use a soil
moisture meter, available
in shops or online, or simply
place your index finger
several centimetres into
the compost to check.
I only ever water my large
plants if the soil feels dry
to the touch and the pot
is light when picked up.
My overall message is to
never panic when purchasing
a sizeable house plant with a
top-end price tag. As long as
you know where in the home
to grow it and when to water
it, success will be just
around the corner.

The amount
of sunlight or
indirect light the
plant will receive
is the most critical
aspect to success

Joe Bagley’s Viewer Video featured on
Gardeners’ World and he was a presenter
at Gardeners’ World Live this summer.
For more of Joe’s house-plant expertise,
visit ukhouseplants.com
November 2022

With its large,
lush leaves, the
Swiss cheese plant
makes a striking
addition to any room

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM

indoor plant care

83

❶

❻

❷

❸

❼

❽

10 large house plants to grow now
❶ Howea forsteriana

❸ Rhaphidophora tetrasperma

Kentia palms offer an architectural grandeur,
reaching heights of up to 2m. Their foliage
provides a wealth of contrast against any wall
colour. Situate in a room with bright, indirect
light, make sure it has evenly moist soil and apply
a house-plant fertiliser with every third watering.

An easy-natured, versatile species that can grow
either as a trailing plant (from a shelf) or pinned
up against a trellis/coir pole for height. Its leaves
resemble a smaller version of the popular Swiss
cheese plant and can grow up to 4m indoors.
Maintain moist soil, allowing the top 7.5cm to dry
out between room-temperature drinks of water.

❷ Beaucarnea recurvata
A sun-dweller, this slow-growing plant is a
great option for rooms that receive copious
amounts of sunlight each day. Well equipped
for conservatories or south-facing rooms, follow
the phrase ‘drenches between droughts’ to
avoid over-watering. Only water this plant once
the soil’s entirety becomes dry.
84

GardenersWorld.com

❹ Monstera deliciosa
The internationally popular Swiss cheese plant
is a regular go-to for those who have a shady
corner in their room. Due to their horizontal
leaves directly facing far-away windows, they
can capture light where other specimens may
struggle. If in a low-light setting, remember

to water less often to avoid root rot and rinse
the leaves in the shower from time to time.

❺ Philodendron xanadu
When pruned every other year, this is a great
alternative for those who like a bush-like shape.
While preferring a sunless location, these
1m-high beauties can tolerate a room that has a
few hours of early morning sun when kept evenly
moist. Feed it once every three to four waterings
to promote its large, glossy leaves.

❻ Dieffenbachia seguine
This jungle-like variety will live for many decades
in the right care. Water once every 10-14 days
and give it a regular nitrogen feed to maintain
November 2022

indoor plant care

Tips for giant
house plants
■ Right plant, right place. Have a look
at the lighting conditions around the
desired location for your new plant. If the
plant is situated more than 2.5m from
the window or light source, you may have
to look for larger-leafed/tropical-looking
specimens, such as a monstera or
philodendron. Sunny locations where
a chocolate bar could melt will require
sun-loving plants such as the ponytail
palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) or a yucca.

❹

■ In darker areas of the home
(for example, room corners or smallwindowed cottages), take care not to
water too often. Raise the plant’s nursery/
coir pot higher so that the top lip is level
with the decorative pot. This will be highly
beneficial for the health of your soil, as
it will also be exposed to the natural
lighting, which in turn will dry the soil
quicker (thus reducing the risk of soilborne issues such as root rot).

❺

■ Keep leafy greens looking great
by gently rinsing the foliage under the
shower to remove dust and replicate
the rainfall of their natural habitats.
This is best carried out on those plants
that will grow in dark rooms to improve
their light-capturing efficiency.

❾
its light-green and golden variegations. Specimens
can be bought at around 50cm but will reliably
grow into monsters in years to come!

❿
every 10 days and give it a nitrogen-rich
feed every third watering.

❾ Hibiscus sinensis
❼ Yucca elephantipes
Another sun-loving species, the trusty yucca
is often planted as a duo at differing heights
in a single pot. This clean-cut, slow-growing
specimen will add around 10cm of growth per
year. To avoid over-watering, only water the
compost once the pot feels light when lifted.

Few garden plants will grow well indoors,
however many pot-grown outdoor specimens
will do well in semi-shaded conservatories.
Hibiscus can reach up to 1.2m (unpruned) and
will become a surprisingly reliable house plant
with a weekly watering.

❽ Musa ‘Ae Ae’

❿ Dracaena fragrans
Compacta Group

Many banana varieties will grow in bay windows
or conservatories. The variegated ‘Ae Ae’ can
reach a height of 1.8m with a spread of just over
1m. Provide overhead lighting (to promote
balanced growth), water the soil thoroughly

Ideal for minimalists. Allow the soil to half dry
out between waterings and place it in a well-lit
location to power its striking, compact figure.
Grow it to 1m-2.5m from a windowsill that
offers morning or late-evening sunlight.

November 2022

PHOTOS: THOMAS COLECLOUGH; SARAH CUTTLE; GETTY/SVETLANA; FIRN; FORYOUINF; JASON INGRAM

■ Regular feeding is essential for
healthy and reliable growth. Give your
plants a feed once every third or fourth
watering by mixing the recommended
amount with a litre of water.
■ Mature plants can make fantastic
family heirlooms. Once your plant
becomes too large to keep in its current
location, take stem cuttings to root in
either water or soil. This is a fantastic
opportunity to give them as gifts
to friends or family – or even to
encourage the younger generations
to become horticulturalists!

WATCH videos and get tips at

GardenersWorld.com/house-plants
for more on growing house plants
■ For more tips, order
the 132-page Your Happy
House Plants Guide at
magsdirect.co.uk/
gwghp22 (RRP £7.99
plus £2.25 postage
to UK mainland)

GardenersWorld.com

85

&âÓþ´Ì«
Greener

Time for new
ground rules
The soil beneath our feet is home to billions of unseen life forms
that just love to make plants happy. Stephanie Hafferty shows
how we can all give them a helping hand by protecting our soil
ILLUSTRATIONS ELIN BROKENSHAW

Stephanie Hafferty
is a no-dig gardener
and co-author with
Charles Dowding
of No Dig Organic
Home and
(Permanent
Publications, 2017)

All life on Earth depends on the
soil beneath our feet but for years soil
has been overlooked, with little real
understanding of its fundamental role.
The soil is one of the most diverse
environments on the planet, so it’s
important that we look after it. This
is one of the most effective ways in
which we can help our world.
When asked to imagine an abundant
ecosystem, we may think of jungles
or rain forests, but did you know
that an estimated one quarter of all
biodiversity is in the soil? This means
the soil food web is very complex.
Go into your garden or park and scoop
up a teaspoon of healthy soil: you’ll
be holding more organisms than there
are people on the planet. Whether it’s
bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, fungi
or algae, most soil life is invisible to
the human eye and requires powerful
microscopes to see it.

Greener facts
■ It can take 500 years to

form just 2cm of topsoil
■ Around 90 per cent of
plants have mycorrhizal
associations, helping
them to access nutrients
86

GardenersWorld.com

An extensive subterranean web of
soil fungi, flora and fauna connects
trees and other plants via their roots.
It’s being called the Wood Wide Web,
and is thought to be around 500 million
years old. It helps plants keep healthy
by increasing access to nutrients and
water, and also allows communication
between them. Caring for the soil
helps to keep this network thriving.
Protecting the soil creates a better
environment for all wildlife and helps
increase biodiversity. Many creatures
rely on soil life as part of their diet and

Healthy soil retains more nutrients for longer,
leading to more abundant plant growth
to feed their young. Soil is also home
to many insects and other creatures
at the larval stage, throughout their
life, or for hibernating in.
Healthy soil retains more nutrients
for longer, leading to more abundant
plant growth. Allowed to thrive, soil
organisms can recycle nutrients more
efficiently, breaking them down and
making them accessible to plants. Not
digging the soil protects mycorrhizal
fungi, which work with plant roots,
increasing their access to nutrients
and moisture. Avoiding digging also
helps to protect the soil’s structure,

thereby reducing soil erosion and
increasing water retention. It also
helps to minimise flood risk, because
the tiny channels created by soil life
are left undisturbed, allowing them
to reduce compaction and making it
easier for large amounts of rainwater
to percolate through the soil.
Soil stores carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere, generally through the
photosynthesis of plants, which helps
to offset the risks from climate change.
Recent research found that soil globally
has the potential to remove up to
5.5bn tonnes of greenhouse gasses
November 2022

growing greener

Greener facts
■ Organic farms have 20%

SOURCES: BRITANNICA (BIT.LY/BRIT-MYCO); DEFRA (BIT.LY/DEFRA-SOIL); FAO (BIT.LY/
FAO-SE); IUCN (BIT.LY/IUCN-SOIL); NATURE (GO.NATURE.COM/3BUUJBT); UNEP (BIT.LY/
UNEP-PEAT); USDA (BIT.LY/USDA-SH); SOIL ASSOCIATION (BIT.LY/SA-FACTS)

more organic matter in
their soil on average,
thanks to the use of
compost, crop rotation
and nitrogen-fixing crops
■ 33 per cent of the Earth’s
soils are now degraded,
and this could rise to over
90 per cent by 2050

from the atmosphere each year. Safely
locked into the soil, it can stay there
for centuries. This is great news for
reducing climate change.
And even those without gardens can
still connect with the soil beneath our
feet by choosing peat-free compost and
plants grown without peat for window
ledge or balcony containers. This is
important because, while all soils
store carbon, peatlands contain over
33 per cent of the world’s soil carbon,
although they only occupy three per
cent of the global land area. So they
need to be left alone to do that job.
As gardeners, we can all work
together to help support soil and our
environment, to benefit our gardens
and the planet, whatever we grow.
November 2022

Soil life: all about team work
Professor Duncan Cameron
is Co-director of the
Institute for Sustainable
Food at the University of
Sheffield, investigating
plant-microbe interactions
in soil. Here he outlines how
these work in gardens
Soil-dwelling organisms
make soil stable and healthy,
enabling us to grow food in it.
The tiny mineral particles
in soil are stuck together to
give it stability using glues

(produced by soil fauna
and flora) made of carbon
compounds. If exposed to
oxygen, these compounds
break down – so digging,
which introduces air to the
soil, harms these glues as
well as resulting in carbon
dioxide being released into
the atmosphere.
There is currently more
carbon in the planet’s soil
than its atmosphere and
we should keep it there
by using no-dig methods.

Underground organisms,
which make nutrients used
by plants, feed on mycorrhizal
fungi associated with plant
roots. Up to 10 per cent of
the sugar in a plant feeds its
mycorrhiza, moving carbon
into the soil and providing
food for these organisms.
This ecosystem is disrupted
by artificial feeds, which
bypass the process, meaning
plants stop giving sugar to
their mycorrhizas and other
soil organisms starve.

GardenersWorld.com

87

How to look after your soil

A few simple methods can help boost the life in your soil to make your
plants more vigorous, your garden healthier and local wildlife happier

Don’t dig it

Sow green manures

One of the simplest and most effective things
we can all do is to use no-dig methods. When
soil is dug, carbon is released as carbon
dioxide. Not digging locks this carbon in the
ground. No-dig keeps the soil ecosystem
healthy and intact, creates a better environment
for plants and results in bigger harvests.
Top tip No-dig gardening is simple: rather than
digging annually, spread a minimum of 1-2cm
of compost on the surface as a mulch and
leave it for the soil life to incorporate naturally.

An organic mulch is a layer of organic material
spread on the surface of the soil, at any time of
year. Autumn mulches are great for protecting
the soil against winter weather and summer
mulches help to conserve moisture. By the
natural process of decomposition, mulches
feed the soil. They also keep down weeds.
Top tip Use homemade compost, woodchip,
leaves, comfrey or straw to mulch your garden
for free. Grass clippings are great for mulching
potatoes in a dry summer, giving larger yields.

Green manures are a living mulch, helping
to increase biodiversity, reduce weeds
and protect the soil. The seeds are widely
available to gardeners. Sprinkle them in gaps
and between established plants (such as
brassicas) from spring to early autumn.
Phacelia, mustards and crimson clover produce
flowers to feed bees and other pollinators.
Top tip Choose green manures that are killed
off by frost or that can be hoed off easily, so
you can sow and plant in the beds afterwards.

Pack in the plants

Never waste your waste

Feed your soil naturally

Planting densely is another way to keep soil
covered. Flower borders, trees and fruit bushes
can benefit from ground cover, supporting a
wide range of insects, small mammals and
birds. In the veg garden, plant crops that won’t
compete too much with each other close
together, or use green manures.
Top tip Plant smaller edibles such as lettuce,
spinach, spring onions or beetroot between
larger plants such as brassicas. This is called
intercropping and it increases yields.
88

Get mulching

GardenersWorld.com

A compost heap is the heart of the garden.
The ultimate in garden recycling, creating
compost is free and helps to reduce waste.
Choosing a composter that works best for
you, add roughly half and half greens (such
as kitchen scraps and herbaceous growth)
and browns (such as cardboard and twigs).
Top tip Produce more compost by asking
around your neighbourhood for unwanted
compostables to add such as grass clippings,
rabbit or poultry bedding and cardboard.

Chemical fertilisers harm the ecosystem below
ground, killing soil life. Growing organically is
great for soil and plant health. Not digging and
instead feeding the soil with organic mulches
can mean that no other feeds are needed for
healthy plants and abundant crops.
Top tip Make feeds for container-grown plants
using comfrey and nettles: soak cut-up stems
and leaves in a bucket of water for two weeks,
strain and use. Grown in a corner of the garden,
the plants support a wide range of wildlife, too.
November 2022

growing greener

Diverse life,
happy soil

Over-watering not only wastes a precious
resource but can lead to soil erosion and loss
of nutrients. Water carefully around the plant’s
stems, thoroughly rather than frequently, to
encourage deep rooting. If possible, water early
in the morning to reduce evaporation. Undug,
mulched soil will naturally hold onto more
moisture, reducing the need to water.
Top tip Collect water using your compost
heap. Just fix a sheet of plastic over it, angled
so that rainwater pours into a water butt.

Weed little and often

Large weeds cause soil disturbance when
they’re pulled out, so it’s better to get them
when they’re small. Also, weedy soil in the
vegetable garden can reduce harvests and
encourage pests such as slugs. Wildflowers
have their place in a healthy ecosystem,
so dedicate a corner of the garden to them,
or grow them in a large container.
Top tip Regular hoeing of veg beds helps to
keep the soil free of weeds. Keep your hoe
sharp and clean so the job is always easy.
November 2022

&âÓþ´Ì«
Greener

DOING YOUR
BIT NOW

Good soil is key for good
growing and essential for the
best results – and we all have
a part to play in making sure
that our soil is healthy and
productive. Looking after
the life beneath our feet
by gardening carefully
is the responsibility of
gardeners and brings
the rewards of good
harvests and beautiful plants.

GardenersWorld.com/growing-greener
NEXT ISSUE IN GROWING GREENER

Branch out Trees cool our cities, soak
up pollution, sequester carbon, house
wildlife and can provide sustainable
food – and there’s one suitable for
even the smallest plot.

LISTEN
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æòæí ³Ì ÅĄ í
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com/podcast
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HAVE YOU made changes, inspired by
the Growing Greener series? Just email
letters@gardenersworld.com. And look
out for our research in the December
issue, where you’ll have a chance to win
a £50 John Lewis e-gift card by taking part.

GardenersWorld.com

ILLUSTRATIONS: ELIN BROKENSHAW. PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/CJP/FANTAIL; JASON INGRAM; TIM SANDALL

Water responsibly

As with other ecosystems,
biodiversity brings health to
the soil. Soil organisms carry
out various services: they fix
nitrogen, mine phosphorous,
glue particles together and
reduce pests or pathogens.
Losing species from the soil
means these functions are
compromised and the soil is
less able to cope with extreme
conditions such as drought or
flooding. When we gardeners
interfere with soil we disrupt
this balance and damage it.

89

Your

wildlife
month

November is a dreary, damp month
in the garden, with occasional bouts of
sunshine to gladden the heart. A few
butterflies, including red admirals, small
tortoiseshells and peacocks, are still on the wing –
you may spot them feeding on late-flowering plants
such as Michaelmas daisies. Birds such as finches
and blackbirds may have all but vanished from your
garden. This is normal, as road verges and hedges
are bursting with berries, while trees offer a bounty
of seeds and nuts. So don’t worry if you haven’t seen
many birds lately and be thankful they have food to
eat in the wild. While they’re gone, clean your feeders,
bird tables and baths to ensure they’re safe when
things get busier in a few weeks. WORDS KATE BRADBURY

The fieldfare spends
most of its time in
orchards or hedgerows
and berrying trees in
the wild. In particularly
cold winters it will
venture into gardens

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/SANDRA STANDBRIDGE, WEISSCHR

You may spot…

90

Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris
The fieldfare is a large thrush with
a chestnut-brown back and creamyyellow breast streaked with black.
It has a black tail, dark wings and
a grey rump and head. Like our
resident song and mistle thrushes,
it has a very upright stance and
moves purposefully with bold hops.
A social bird, the fieldfare arrives
in October from Russia and eastern
Europe, and is rarely seen alone. It
sometimes forms huge flocks, often
with redwings. It spends most of its
time in orchards, eating windfall
apples, and in hedgerows and
berrying trees in the wild. In snowy
conditions or a particularly cold
winter, it will venture into gardens.
It breeds in continental Europe
and Scandinavia (very occasionally
in Scotland), typically in woodland
and scrub, and sometimes in small
colonies. Up to six eggs are laid
and the chicks are fed by both
parents. It eats molluscs, insects
and earthworms in summer, and
berries and seeds in winter.

GardenersWorld.com

On sunny days you may still see
hoverflies such as Eristalis tenax

Also be on the lookout for…
◾ Hoverflies, some of which may
still be on the wing on sunny days.
◾ Bats, especially pipistrelles,
a common garden species, which
may still fly on mild nights before
entering hibernation properly.
◾ Blue tits, which join with great
tits and smaller birds such as
goldcrests, in ‘roving groups’
in search of food.

And don’t miss...
National Tree Week, from Sunday
27 Nov to Monday 5 Dec. Look
out for local tree-planting events
at bit.ly/tree-action-week

Autumn heralds
the arrival of
fieldfares, flying in
to feast on berries
and fruit through
our relatively mild
British winter

November 2022

wildlife

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

91

Fresh from the plot
With the arrival of chilly weather, this season’s crops are all but over… with the exception
of Rekha’s precious saffron harvest – perfect for her deliciously warming cardamom loaf

There’s no doubt about it: we’re

now definitely into November.
I’m wrapping the scarf around
my neck just that little bit tighter
and there’s a woolly hat snuggled
securely around my ears, but
when it comes to gardening,
the gloves are off!
I love the feeling of soil moving
through my bare hands. It’s not
really that cold, once I get into the
rhythm of digging and turning
the last patch of soil where the
squashes grew. I’ve been putting
off the job of washing out plant
pots, but it will have to be done
over the coming month before
the water supply to the allotment

Now is a good
time to clean
pots: it’s one
less job to do
in the rush of
next spring

site is shut off over winter. I stack
and store them in the shed and
whilst I’m in there, give the inside
of the shed a good tidy up, too.
The big oak tree has finally
dropped all its leaves, and I stow
a few barrow-loads of them into
my make-do-and-mend leafmould
pen. The cold rain, frost and even
snow will help to break it all down.
Another task ticked off.
Soon, I can down tools and
allow the plot to rest over its
hibernation period. As for what
I plan to do… rest assured, my
fingers and thumbs won’t be idle
all winter, with all those seed
catalogues to flick through!

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/FLOORTJE

How I grow Saffron

92

It’s humbling to learn how the
flower of a small corm produces
the most expensive spice in the
world – and that I can grow it here!
Only Crocus sativus, an autumnflowering crocus, produces the
high-quality spice, saffron.
Although they grow well outdoors
in the ground, the soil on my plot
is heavy clay, and we have colonies
of squirrels that do not leave any
crocus alone, so I prefer using
terracotta pots in the greenhouse.
I picked up my corms in late
August and planted them in
a very gritty, free-draining,
loam-based compost. Then, I just
watered them and left the pots
in the greenhouse to do their
thing. I don’t water them very
much after that.
Through September and October
green blade-like leaves appear
from each corm. As the outdoor
temperatures drop, this triggers
two or three flowers to start
forming in the centre of each
GardenersWorld.com

plant. As soon as the flower opens,
I pick up my tweezers and pluck
the precious red stigmas out,
laying them on a paper towel in the
warmth of the kitchen to dry out
completely, and later storing them
in a small jam jar. When you open
the lid after a few days, there’s a
sweet, spicy aroma – a pleasant
fragrance that I always enjoy.
By spring the plants die back.
I simply take the dormant corms
out and store them in the shed
away from direct sunlight, ready
for planting again in late August.

ALSO TRY

Although there aren’t different
species of saffron-producing
crocus to grow apart from
Crocus sativus, I have come
across a white saffron crocus,
which I am yet to get hold of and
grow, called Crocus sativus
‘Albus’. These produce silky
white petals, in contrast to
the usual lilac-purple colour.

ABOVE Once completely dried, saffron is best kept in an air-tight glass jar
RIGHT Planting into a leaky wheelbarrow makes it easy to move your crop

November 2022

rekha’s kitchen garden

TOP TIP

Saffron crocus can be
planted outside, but they
need free-draining
conditions so make sure any
container, like my old
wheelbarrow, has holes
in the base.

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

93

rekha’s kitchen garden

Saffron and
cardamom loaf

Perfectly warming, serve this
sweet treat with black tea
SERVES 12
■ 150g caster sugar
■ 200g yoghurt
■ 6 eggs
■ 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
■ 100g plain flower
■ 1 tsp baking powder
■ 200g ground almonds
■ 1/2 tsp rose water
■ 1 tsp saffron and 50ml milk, brought
to the boil and simmered for 15 mins
■ 1/2 tsp nutmeg
■ 75g mix of crushed pistachios,
almonds and cardamom seeds
FOR THE SYRUP
■ 2 tbsp water
■ 125g caster sugar
■ 1/4 tsp rose water
■ A few strands of saffron
1 Whisk sugar, yoghurt and eggs.
2 Fold in cardamom, flour, baking
powder and ground almonds.
3 Stir in rose water, saffron milk and
two thirds of the crushed nut mixture.
4 Pour into a greased, lined 30 x 20cm
tin and bake at 180°C for 45 minutes,
then make a few holes in the surface.
5 Make syrup by melting sugar in the
water. Add saffron and rose water.
6 Spoon syrup over cake and sprinkle
with nut mix. Cool before eating.

November’s allotment plan

PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; ADRIAN TAYLOR

SOW
Broad beans can be sown direct in mild
areas. Otherwise start them in 9cm pots
in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse.
Peas sown in the greenhouse can provide
an early harvest of pods next year – or you
can just enjoy the fresh shoots in salads.
Spinach seeds can be sown in troughs
in the greenhouse, for a burst of tender
green leaves in the depths of winter.

HARVEST
Pick winter lettuce and oriental greens
grown in the greenhouse. Pick outer
leaves of lettuce and cut top growth
from greens so that plants will
continue to produce new growth.

Tease out leeks as and when needed.
Cut away and discard the roots.
Keep bringing in turnips – those harvested
after the frosts arrive will be even sweeter. You
can also use the leafy tops as a cooked spinach
substitute.

JOBS
Rake up and save fallen leaves from
deciduous trees and shrubs to make
leafmould. Stuff them into
old compost bags
and then

NEXT MONTH Serve up Rekha’s spicy smashed turnips for your festive feast
94

GardenersWorld.com

carefully stab a few holes for air and water
to pass through. Alternatively make a
leafmould pen by hammering four stakes
into the ground and wrapping chicken
wire around it to create an enclosure.
Remove saucers from underneath pots
of perennial herbs. This helps to keep the
roots from becoming too wet, and makes
terracotta pots less likely to crack.
Remove yellow and decaying leaves
from Brussels sprouts and other
brassica plants. Plant debris can
cause moulds to spread.
Prune soft fruit shrubs
from now up to late winter,
removing some of the older
stems low down.

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Growing guide
November

Get a head start on next year’s crops by making autumn plantings of onions, peas and plums
Sow indoors

Plant/sow outdoors

Key crops for November

Harvest

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Apples
Rich in protective polyphenols and fibre, apples
help manage cholesterol and support heart
health. Storing well, they lose little polyphenol.

Tips Bare-root trees tend to be cheaper than pot-grown and are available from November to March.
at previous level Final spacing
1.8m apart
3m between rows
Plant them straightaway. Plant

Broad beans
High in fibre, starchy carbs and protein, with low
levels of the healthier polyunsaturated fat, broad
beans are a sound nutritional choice.

Tips Choose hardy varieties to sow now. Broad beans prefer heavier soil, but will still crop well in lighter soil if
8cm deep Final spacing
23cm apart
45cm between rows
watered regularly while in flower. Sow

Calabrese
A useful source of sulphoraphane, which
supports the liver and helps detoxify
environmental pollutants, like cigarette smoke.

Tips In mild areas, the last of this year’s crop will be ready to harvest. Protect with fleece if frost is likely.
2cm deep Final spacing
30cm apart
45cm between rows
Sow

Garlic
Rich in beneficial plant compounds, garlic
supports blood flow and helps to manage
blood pressure and support heart health.

Tips Plant garlic cloves in a warm, sunny spot, ideally in light, free-draining soil. To cope with heavier soil,
10cm deep Final spacing
18cm apart
30cm between rows
plant on a ridge. Plant

Gooseberries
Loaded with protective antioxidants like vitamin C
and quercetin, gooseberries may minimise the
symptoms of seasonal allergies.

Tips Plant bare-root or pot-grown gooseberries now, in sun or light shade, in soil enriched with well-rotted
at previous level Final spacing
1.5m apart
1.5m between rows
compost or manure. Plant

Onions
Rich in fibre, including a non-digestible variety
that supports gut health, enhances digestion and
strengthens immunity. Enjoy raw or cooked.

Tips Onions are easy to grow from sets (immature bulbs) planted now or in spring. Keep weed free, as they
with tip showing Final spacing
10cm apart
30cm between rows
don’t like competition. Plant

Peas
Heart-friendly, containing potassium, magnesium
and folate, peas are also a source of plant
protein. Freeze a glut straight after picking.

Tips Sow hardy varieties now under cloches or keep in a greenhouse until spring. Indoor sowing helps to
5cm deep Final spacing
5cm apart
equal to height of plants
protect seeds from mice. Sow

Plums
Fresh or dried, plums improve bone health and
may slow the bone loss experienced during midlife. Cut into segments, dehydrate at a low temp.

Tips Plant plum trees in a warm, sheltered location to help protect the early spring blossom from frosts
at previous level Final spacing
3-5m apart
3-5m between rows
and spring gales. Plant

Raspberries
Among one of the best food sources for fibre as
well as ‘good-for-you’ anthocyanins, these make
a perfect breakfast bowl berry.

Tips Buy cheaper bare-root plants now. Choose both summer- and autumn-fruiting varieties for harvests
8cm deep Final spacing
35-40cm apart
2m between rows
over a longer period. Plant

Rhubarb
Supports beneficial gut bacteria, promotes
digestion and may strengthen immune defences.
Mix with sweeter-tasting fruit, like strawberries.

Tips For an early crop of sweeter, more tender stems, cover an established plant with a forcing jar in late
with crown at soil level Final spacing
75-90cm apart
30cm between rows
winter. Plant

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November 2022

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WHAT TO
DO NOW

50 things to do this month from the Gardeners’ World team

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Your 10-page monthly planner

105
Lift tender
perennials
for winter

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM

113
Harvest
your last
chillies

117
Remove
old bergenia
leaves

107
Check on
brassica
netting

103
Take
hardwood
cuttings

PLUS ◼ Pot up amaryllis bulbs ◼ Service pruning tools ◼ Mulch over bare soil ◼ Sow early sweet peas ◼ Tidy up deciduous ferns
November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

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MONTY’S MONTH
WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

The leaves of
chard can be
added to salads,
while the ribs
are a colourful
addition to
a risotto

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM

Monty’s month
Whichever way you look at it, November
is a miserable month. However, climate
change has meant that the best
autumnal colour now comes in early
November rather than October, and the
°âªâÓæíæí°íÓòÅ â ų òßÓÌН
to appear and last for days have now
become much less likely. This means that
there is still some colour in the borders
and the vegetable garden enters a new
phase with a new range of harvests.
One of the most colourful crops growing
at this time of year is ruby chard, with its

November 2022

crimson stalks and crinkled deepburgundy – almost chocolate – leaves.
Chard is a member of the beet family
and one of the most durable and
useful vegetables there is. Although
I primarily grow the green-leafed and
white-stemmed Swiss chard, I also grow
ruby chard for its colour and distinct
taste. It has a slightly sweeter edge than
its white-stemmed cousin and makes
a superb risotto, staining the dish pink,
with the stems adding a slightly nutty
taste and texture to the creamy rice.

WATCH Monty’s video on

growing celeriac at Gardeners
World.com/celeriac
GardenersWorld.com 101

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Plant amaryllis in pots

Although they keep fairly well
and, with the right regime, will flower
for successive years, amaryllis
always flower best in their first year,
so I always plant some fresh bulbs
every autumn. These are unlikely to
flower by Christmas – they need to
be planted a month earlier for that –
but will add brilliant colour as house
plants in January and February.
The bulbs are huge and should sit
no more than half-submerged, their
roots down in the soil, but the bulb
itself mostly exposed to the air. The

compost should be gritty with
excellent drainage and substantial
enough to balance the eventual twoor even three-foot tall, stout flower
stem topped by the huge trumpet
blooms – which is why I like alpine
pots that are far less likely to topple
over. However, they flower best
when constricted, so if you can fit
more than one bulb in a pot – three
tends to work better than two – do
so, otherwise use a pot that has no
more than an inch of compost
around the bulb.

Water and place the bulbs
somewhere warm and light. A
greenhouse is ideal but a bright
windowsill works well. They should
flower about six to eight weeks after
potting up. The flowers will last
longer if placed out of direct light
and somewhere cool rather than
above a radiator.

WATCH videos and get

tips on growing amaryllis at
GardenersWorld.com/amaryllis

Amaryllis will
grow best in a
restricted space,
so try to grow
several bulbs
in a pot of
free-draining
compost

102 GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

MONTY’S MONTH
WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Make a straight cut, just below a bud, before inserting it into your pot

Take hardwood cuttings

Start off by removing the lower leaves of your blackcurrant cutting

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM; STEPHEN MARWOOD

BEETROOT

I grow two beetroot crops
a year, one sown in early
spring for a summer
harvest and a second, sown
in July, that will stay in the
ground all winter. They
grow very fast and are
ready to harvest from
October onwards. They
survive cold weather well
(beetroot stays perfectly
hardy down to at least
-10°C) and will send up
fresh leaves in early spring
that are ideal for salads at
a time of year when there
is little else that is fresh.
November 2022

Hardwood cuttings can be taken
throughout winter but immediately
after leaf fall is the best time. It is the
best way to propagate new currant
bushes, especially blackcurrants
because they can be pruned harder
and provide more good cutting
material. Cut straight stems of this
season’s growth and subdivide these
into 6-9 inch lengths, cutting the top
at an angle and the bottom straight so
you do not put them in upside down.

Start harvesting
beetroot roots
when they grow
to the size of
a golf ball

Strip off any remaining foliage and
place the cuttings around the edge of
a pot or in a slit trench in the ground,
being sure to bury at least half their
depth and ideally three quarters.
Label, water and then be patient!
Hardwood cuttings will not root for
at least six months and should not
be disturbed for a full year, when
they can be divided and potted on
individually or planted out where
they are to mature.

Don’t forget
Keep stored apples
frost-free, insulating
them with a blanket or
some fleece if necessary
Begin harvesting
parsnips after they have
been exposed to frost
Keep turning the
compost heap to
improve air circulation
and mix up the
ingredients well

VISIT GardenersWorld.
com/november-jobs for more
seasonal tasks and advice
GardenersWorld.com 103

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FLOWERS
Plant tulip bulbs
5-10cm deep
with the pointed
ends facing up

Lift borderline
hardy perennials
Lift plants that are borderline
tender and might not make
it through winter without
protection. Tender salvias,
like the popular ‘Amistad’, are
typical of this group, which can
overwinter but may succumb to
the cold, especially if the soil is
heavy or gets waterlogged.

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

STEP BY STEP

REDUCE the plant’s size to
encourage sturdy growth next
year. Trim to a third of its height,
making cuts above healthy buds.

1

Fill window boxes with tulips
PUSH a spade into the ground
at an angle to reach below the
main roots. Gently lift out the whole
plant, holding the rootball intact.

2

Look forward to luxurious colour next
spring by planting tulip bulbs in your
window boxes now. Choose short
cultivars, such as the multi-headed
Tulipa praestans ‘Shogun’, so that they

make sturdy plants with maximum
impact in front of the window.
Part-fill the box with a peat-free
compost and place the bulbs facing
nose-up, 5-10cm apart depending

Plant pansies

PLACE in a pot large enough
for the rootball and firm in with
peat-free multi-purpose compost.
Water in and place in a sheltered spot.

3

November 2022

Plant pansies in borders now for
instant colour that will last through
winter, well into next year. Choose a
place at the front of the border that
is easily seen as you walk through
the garden or from a window when
you’re keeping warm inside.
Water the plants in the tray, then
press them out of each cell and
place onto the ground in their
planting positions. Use a trowel to
make the hole and firm them in.
Soak the plants using a watering
can to settle them in.

on the size of the bulb. Use your
fingertips to protect the base as you
press them into the loose compost,
then cover with another layer of
compost before watering.

Don’t forget
Plant bare-root roses
when the soil is damp
but not waterlogged
Mulch alpines and
succulents with a
1cm layer of grit or
limestone chippings

Carefully remove the pansies from
the tray and tease out the roots

Plant lilies in pots
of peat-free multipurpose compost

GardenersWorld.com 105

THE WORLD’S
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3. Fewer layers, greater warmth
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That is quite a claim, but it’s a fact. Tested at the
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to 0.14. And for reference, a jumper would typically
have a rating of 0.3. The Ultimate performs best in a
temperature range of -10° Celsius thru 10° Celsius –
so even in the coldest of conditions in your garden, it
will keep you toasty warm.

The Ultimate is the ideal product for people who
dislike traditional tight baselayers. Over the years,
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combat the effects of cold weather. This is
where we are changing the game. The Heatrub
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won’t need multiple additional layers, giving you
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Gardeners will enjoy the warmth of the Ultimate
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Five separate fabrics - along with a patented knitting
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FRUIT AND VEG
Spread a layer
of mulch over
areas of bare
soil to improve
fertility

Ensure your brassicas are still well
protected against pigeons by giving
your netting a once-over. Make sure
the structure holding the netting up
is secured against stormy winter
weather and look particularly closely
at any netting at ground level to
make sure it is safely pegged down.
Canes laid down along the edge
are a good way of holding down
the netting, and are easy to take
off for access. Whatever system
you use, make sure it’s easy to lift
the netting without snagging it.

Make sure there are no gaps
where birds could get trapped

WATCH Our mulching

guide at GardenersWorld.
com/mulch–soil

Mulch to replenish bare soil
Give any bare soil a boost for next
season by top-dressing it with a layer
of mulch. First remove weeds and
rake the ground level. Ideally the soil
should be moist, so after a wet spell

is ideal. Then spread a 5cm layer
of garden compost or well rotted
manure over the surface.
Lay landscape fabric or cardboard
over the top and weigh it down.

VIEW FROM BEECHGROVE

WORDS: ROSIE YEOMANS. BEECHGROVE WORDS:
MAIRI RATTRAY. PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAM

Beechgrove
●

BEECHGROVE ON TV
The series is off air until spring
next year, but the garden is tended
over winter. Catch any
missed episodes on
BBC iPlayer.
November 2022

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Check brassica
netting is secure

Plant a bare-root fruit tree

Use a cane laid over the hole to
help you plant at the right depth

Bare-root season is now under way
as many plants enter full dormancy,
and apple trees are classic candidates
for this cost-effective form of planting.
Soak the roots well, then prepare
the planting area by clearing weeds
and digging the soil over. On grassed
areas, give the trunk some space
by clearing a 100cm-wide circle.
Fan the roots out so they all fit
comfortably into the friable soil in the
hole, then back-fill and firm in. Make
sure not to plant too deep: look out
for the ‘nursery mark’, an area slightly
darker than the rest of the trunk,
which indicates where the previous
soil level was. Stake the tree and
protect from rabbits with a tree guard.
We find they favour gnawing apple
trees above all others.

When you take this off in spring, the
worms and beetles will have done
their work to give you a perfect tilth
and you’ll be able to pick off the
slugs taking refuge on the covers.

Don’t forget

Secure lids on water
butts to stop wildlife
from falling in
Place protective wire
mesh around spring
bedding, especially
wallflowers, if rabbits
are a problem
Gather leaves regularly
to avoid unmanageable
build-ups of debris
Order seed and plant
catalogues so you can
browse for next year’s
varieties over the
Christmas period

GardenersWorld.com 107

Stay safe this autumn
with a Henchman
Tripod Ladder

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Henchman has been designing and manufacturing ladders
that are purposefully designed for the garden.
With its no wobble design, adjustable legs for uneven ground,
and integrated standing platform, the Henchman Tripod
ladder is the correct tool for the job. It will give you the
stability to keep the top of your hedge trimmed and your
trees pruned to perfection. Once you have a Henchman in
your toolkit, you can tackle other jobs with ease.

One of the main pieces of feedback we hear is “I wish
I’d bought this sooner”, so don’t wait, invest in your
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FRUIT AND VEG
Gather the last
windfall apples

Plant garlic

Make good use of cropping
space in winter by planting
garlic cloves now. It also
takes advantage of the cold
winter period, which helps to
speed up bulb development,
with bulbs maturing by early
June. There are many varieties
available, so it’s well worth
experimenting by planting
out several different types.

Pick up the last of the windfall
apples from under your trees. Make
sure you pick up every last one,
even the early ones that have rotted
by now, because any remaining
fruit can harbour disease and be
a source of infections for next year.
Leave the damaged ones in
another part of the garden for the
birds and other creatures to feed on
over winter. Be careful as you pick
them up that you don’t upset any
wasps and end up with a sting.

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

STEP BY STEP

LOOK OUT FOR
whitefly on kale

SPLIT the bulb and check that
all the cloves are firm and
plump. Discard any with soft tissue
that are showing signs of rot.

1

Lift a few outer leaves
on your kale plants to
check the undersides for
âææ³þ°³í ĕĄßí° æ
of white down and a cloud
Óªí³ÌĄĕ³ æâ æòâ 泫Ìæ 
Wash off what you can
with a spray of water,
then cut off and compost
the worst-affected leaves
to remove large numbers.
Be sure to wash harvested
leaves thoroughly before
you eat them.

Windfalls won’t store, but may be
usable for juicing or eating now

Store horseradish

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE

PREPARE a planting area that
2 gets lots of sun and drains
well. Firm the soil, then space each
clove along the row, 15cm apart.

MAKE a hole and put the
clove in, with the pointed tip
about 2-3cm below ground. Plant
closer to the surface on heavy soils.

3

November 2022

Dig horseradish roots up to store
for the winter. Discard the really
thin ones because they dry out
too quickly, and don’t save the very
large, woody roots either because
they are too fibrous to use.
Brush the soil off them and make
sure they’re not damaged. Keep the
shoots at the top intact. Fill a box
with shredded paper, sand or similar
packing material.
Lay the roots so that they’re not
touching and cover them completely
to block out the light. Keep them
somewhere cool and dark, and
they’ll last for two to three months.

VISIT GardenersWorld.
com/plant-garlic for more
advice on growing garlic

A layer of shredded paper helps to maintain consistent moisture levels

GardenersWorld.com 109

10

MINUTES
TO SPARE

Harvested on
a regular basis,
winter leaves
can keep you
supplied for
most of the
cold season

Check stored potatoes for
signs of rot and remove any
tubers that are rotten so
they don’t spoil any more
of the crop. Make sure the
place where they are stored
is not too warm – 5-10°C is
an ideal temperature range.

Service secateurs
Clean and sharpen your pruning tools,
ready for fruit-tree pruning season
in the next month or two. Use some
resin remover to clean the dark stains
on the blade. Disassemble secateurs
if possible before honing the blade
on a sharpening tool.
Once they are reassembled, oil
all the moving parts and wrap the
secateurs in a rag to mop up any
oil on the handles and protect the
metal parts from moisture.

Continue snipping off salad leaves

Oil keeps moving parts working
smoothly and repels water

Keep harvesting salad leaves such
as cut-and-come-again lettuce,
rocket, mustard and mizuna. Make
sure you have plenty of salad for the

kitchen in the weeks to come by
harvesting only the outer leaves.
These plants will grow gently,
growing from the centre to keep

you supplied with more leaves.
Protect them with fleece or cloches
if you want to keep harvesting
quality leaves right into the winter.

Harvest parsley
Cut parsley back to the base so
that no leafless stems are left to
rot. Discard any that are yellowing
and keep the foliage for the kitchen.
Parsley is hardy and, if grown in
large enough amounts, will keep
you supplied all winter. Like other
soft evergreen winter crops, you will
see that new shoots can emerge in
warmer spells. Covering with fleece
protects the quality of the shoots,
but you’ll still get a crop without it.

QUICK
SOLUTIONS

Plant rhubarb crowns now.
Choose an open site in
full sun if possible, with
good soil that holds onto
moisture but doesn’t get
waterlogged. The growing
point should be 3cm below
ground or at ground level
if the soil is heavy.

VISIT GardenersWorld.

com/parsley-crop for more
advice on growing parsley

110 GardenersWorld.com

Cut down to the base, as unwanted stems stop airflow and invite rot

November 2022

PHOTOS: JASON INGRAM; SARAH CUTTLE

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

FRUIT AND VEG

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GREENHOUSE

Snip off the last of the chilli harvest
from plants still growing under glass.
Use them straight away or preserve
by drying, freezing or bottling.
If you want to try overwintering
the whole plant to get fruit earlier next
year, trim the softest shoots and any
damaged growth back, and give the
plant some space and light.
Plants will need some warmth to
survive winter – the lightest possible
windowsill or a heated greenhouse
with clean glass are ideal. Water
sparingly through winter and keep
an eye on them for disease, removing
any infected growth straight away.

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Harvest the last
of your chillies
TOP TIP

Create a cheerful display
with early crocuses,
planting corms in pots of
compost topped with grit,
then place in a cold garage,
shed or cold frame. After
10-12 weeks of cold, place
them somewhere warmer
such as a greenhouse or by
a window in a cool room,
Ìí° Ąæ°ÓòÅĕÓþ â
shortly after.
Pick any remaining chillies, then trim the plants and keep warm over winter

STEP BY STEP Sow next year’s early sweet peas
You can enjoy sweet pea
blooms that bit earlier than
with spring sowings if you start
now. Sweet peas will germinate
easily in about a fortnight at
this time of year. Make sure
newly sown pots are protected
from mice and don’t keep them
too wet or the seeds will rot.
You’ll need to keep the young
seedlings in a cold greenhouse
or cold frame over winter and if
they get too leggy, pinch them
back early next spring.

1

FILL pots with peat-free multipurpose compost, firm the surface
and place two or three seeds in each
pot, leaving enough space up to the
rim to cover with a layer of compost.
USE a sieve to prepare some finer
compost. Pour the compost over
the seed then level it out so that seed
is covered by a 2cm layer once it’s
firmed down.
WRITE a label before you sow so
that it is ready to put straight into
the pot to avoid any mix-ups over
winter, particularly if you are growing
several different varieties.
PLACE the labelled pots into
a tray of tepid water for long
enough for the compost to soak right
through to the top. You’ll know it’s
ready by the change in colour of
the compost’s surface.

2

1

2

3

4

WORDS: ROSIE YEOMANS. PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM

3

4

VISIT GardenersWorld.

com/sweet-peas-now for
more on sowing sweet peas

November 2022

GardenersWorld.com

113

GREENHOUSE

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Keep fleece
handy, so it’s
easy to cover
any plants that
aren’t fully
hardy whenever
harsh frosts
are forecast

Inspect cuttings
for grey mould
Grey mould can be particularly bad
in humid, heated propagators and
it spreads quickly, so it’s vital to keep
a look-out for it. You’ll see the telltale signs of drooping leaves and
grey, fuzzy growth on soft plant
tissue. A daily pick-through will keep
it from getting a serious foot-hold
with your cuttings.
Gently lift out the affected growth.
If you are able to space the cuttings
out more, that will help too. Remove
mouldy tissue from the greenhouse
to prevent further spread.

Protect with fleece on cold nights
vulnerable to damage from dramatic
temperature drops, even if they have
some basal heat from below. Just a
light covering helps to keep cold air
from scorching soft, new growth.

Fleece is very light and can be
draped straight over plants without
damaging them. Just remember
to take it off in morning and replace
it at night until the risk is over.

Harvest coriander

Cleaning and sorting pots now
gives you a head-start next spring

Sort plant pots
Wash and tidy your store of pots by
putting them into stacks of the same
size and shape. Stacked pots take
up much less space than having them
in a heap. Doing this also gives you a
chance to sort them out and see if
you need to get more of a particular
size for next year, or if you could pass
on those you don’t need to others.
114

GardenersWorld.com

Don’t forget

Continue snipping off leaves from
coriander plants for use in the kitchen.
The plant should stay in growth for
some time yet, although the colder
the temperature gets, the less
re-growth you’ll have. Leaving a fair
number of leaves on the plant will
help it to recover.
If you would rather call it a day and
harvest all your coriander leaves now,
chop them very finely, carefully add
them to ice cube trays and top
up with water. Then freeze them for
use in curries, soups and stews
throughout the winter.

Give succulents and
cacti as much light
as possible, turning
them around weekly
to ensure even growth
Take root cuttings of
mint plants, keeping
them on the bench
in the greenhouse
Look out daily for signs
of slug and snail damage

VISIT GardenersWorld.

com/coriander-tips for more
advice on growing coriander

Remove cuttings with grey mould
immediately to minimise spread

Coriander harvested now can be
frozen for use all winter long

Open greenhouse vents
for an hour or two in the
middle of the day

November 2022

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS

If a harsh frost is predicted, be ready
to put some light horticultural fleece
or micro-netting over borderline
hardy plants and cuttings in the
greenhouse. Cuttings are particularly

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Make the most of the autumn planting season so you can settle into winter, safe in the
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colour next year. And with free delivery you can plant up an even bigger display for less

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Spring crocus – mixed colours

Tulipa ‘Orange Princess’

Fritillaria imperialis ‘Lutea’

Nectaroscordum siculum
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Flowers Dec-Jan
5 bulbs £4.75
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proportioned, peony-like blooms.
H x S 35cm x 15cm F Apr-May
10 bulbs £5.90
◼ Nectaroscordum siculum
Clusters of exotic cream-andpurple bells. Sicilian honey garlic.
H x S 90cm x 10cm F May-June
5 bulbs £3.25
◼ Tulipa ‘Queen of Night’
The black tulip. Single, late flowers.
H x S 60cm x 10cm F Apr-May
10 bulbs £4.95

View the full range

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November 2022

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AROUND THE GARDEN

Leave seedheads on
perennials to provide
food for birds

Make room for next year’s early
spring growth by cutting back
spent fronds on deciduous ferns.
Most of the fronds will be brown
by now, so trim them right back.
Avoid cutting right into the centre,
where next year’s fronds will be
curled in tight, ready to unfurl.
Clear all the debris away to help
get air to the crown through winter.
If it’s a tender species, you can use
the old fronds to layer over the crown
as frost protection.

Check any tree ties on
stakes in case they need
loosening or tightening
Keep squirrels off bulbs
in pots by using peggeddown chicken wire
Plant bare-root hedging,
after clearing the area
of weeds and adding
some organic matter

WHAT TO DO NOW | NOVEMBER

Tidy up fronds of
deciduous ferns

Don’t forget

Take fallen leaves
out of lavender
Pick all autumn leaves and summer
weeds out of lavender plants to get
some air into the middle and prevent
them from rotting at the base.
This gives lavender plants the best
chance of shooting from low down to
maintain a compact shape. Gather a
handful of outer stems with one hand
and reach right into the shrub with the
other to clear away the debris.

Remove fallen leaves to let in air
and stop lavenders getting soggy

Protecting canes from winter weather will keep them usable for longer

Store bamboo canes
away for next year
Help to extend the life span of your
cane supports by storing them away
from winter weather for next spring.
Take off all the ties and keep them
to re-use next year if they’re suitable.
Then pull out the canes, pulling off
old plant debris and adding it to the
compost heap.

Brush off any soil and make sure
the canes are dry before tying them
into bundles. Store them somewhere
cool and dry such as a shed or garage.
If you have to leave them outside,
they’ll stay driest when stacked
off the ground horizontally, under
a rain-proof tarpaulin.

WORDS: ROSIE YEOMANS. PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE

Remove old
bergenia leaves
Smarten up bergenias by cutting out
any tatty, discoloured leaves. Use
secateurs to cut them right back to
the fleshy stems that sit on the soil
surface. This leaves a fresh, glossy
canopy to enjoy through winter and
opens up space for flower shoots
to come up early in spring.
While you’re doing this job, take
the opportunity to catch any snails
lurking underneath – it’s one of their
favourite winter hide-outs. This will
help to reduce the numbers feeding
on fresh, young shoots next spring.
November 2022

Removing old fronds allows you to
see the new ones unfurl in spring

Next month
Start a new onion crop
from seed in a greenhouse
or on a sunny window sill
Lift, divide and mulch
rhubarb plants to increase
future cropping
Take root cuttings from
perennial plants such
as Japanese anemones
and oriental poppies
Bergenias hold onto leaves for a long time, so remove any tatty growth

Plant bare-root trees if soil
conditions are not too wet
GardenersWorld.com 117

YOUR
PRUNING
MONTH
Frances Tophill shows you how to
prune rambling roses, to keep them
òÌ âÓÌíâÓÅÌĕÓþ â³Ì«þ ÅÅ

By November the garden is well and truly into
its dormant season. The days are short, though some
of the sturdiest and most resilient short-day flowers like
chrysanthemums may still be clinging on. You may also
have the last of the autumn hips and berries on roses,
rowans, hawthorns and blackthorns. And although
these can all be pruned now, it’s best to wait for
wildlife to finish off the fruits before you start.
This period of dormancy gives us gardeners licence
to be bolder with our actions and to re-jig and tidy our
gardens without too much fear of damaging most plants.
We can dig things up, move them around and cut back
most large shrubs and trees that need bringing into check
a little. I would always recommend a little care with these
big projects and consideration for hibernating wildlife.
If you can bear to delay until the end of winter, then do
so. Some fruiting trees and shrubs can be tackled now,
including blackcurrants, gooseberries and mulberries,
but avoid pruning any Prunus, such as cherries and plums,

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAM; TIM SANDALL
LOCATION: WEST DEAN GARDENS, W SUSSEX

Cut back sideshoots
of rambling roses to
encourage branching,
so you get more
flowers next summer

Catch up with Frances
Watch any episodes of Gardeners’ World you
may have missed or re-watch your
favourites – the whole 2022 series
is available on BBC iPlayer.

118 GardenersWorld.com

November 2022

your pruning month

Other plants to prune now

While shrubs and trees are dormant, you can get started on winter pruning, especially on plants
that bleed a lot of sap if pruned in late winter.

ACERS These bleed excessively if pruned in

BLACKCURRANTS These fruit best on young

summer. They shouldn’t need much pruning,
but if required, do it now while they’re dormant.

wood, so prune out up to one-third of the
oldest stems to encourage new shoots.

MULBERRIES Prune before January to avoid

HAZELS, SWEET CHESTNUTS AND WILLOWS

bleeding. With young trees, remove any branches
on the lower part of the trunk, to lift the canopy.

To coppice these, cut right back to a stump or
thin out the stems by one-third to one-fifth.

Don’t prune these now

✗ LEYLAND CYPRESS HEDGES If pruned

Removing
tangled stems
Rambler roses often form a
tangle of thorny stems if they’re
not pruned annually. To remove
longer stems, cut them off at
the base then into smaller
sections that are easier to
untangle. Any remaining hips
can be placed on bird tables
or displayed indoors in vases.

November 2022

Prune Leyland cypress in spring and summer –
it may need up to three cuts to control its vigour

during winter, evergreens such as this can suffer
ill health or even die. They should generally be
pruned no later than September.
✗ LAVENDER Delicate Mediterranean and
tender shrubs are susceptible to frost damage
if pruned late in the year.
✗ PRUNUS Plums, cherries, apricots, peaches
and even the seemingly indestructible blackthorn
are vulnerable to silver leaf disease. This is more
prevalent in winter and can enter via pruning cuts.
✗ SHRUB ROSES These are best pruned at the
end of winter, although you can reduce their
height a little now to avoid wind-rock.

GardenersWorld.com 119

your pruning month

Pruning rambling roses
Although rambling roses can be pruned
in late summer, after their show of flowers has
finished, there are two reasons why it’s best
to wait a little longer.
Firstly, rosehips can be a valuable food
source for birds – mistle thrushes, blackbirds
and fieldfares all have strong enough beaks

to handle them. Rosehips are full of goodness
and useful to us too, for coughs and colds if
cooked into a syrup.
The other reason is that if your rambler
needs regenerative pruning, then the dormant
season is the time to do it – between
November and February.

Ramblers usually
flower once a year,
in early summer

Step by step

1

IDENTIFY old, woody stems and cut them
right down to the ground using loppers.
Untie them from their support and remove
them. Wear sturdy, thorn-proof gloves.

2

3

SHORTEN the sideshoots sprouting from
the remaining younger main stems, cutting
back to 2-3 buds to encourage more flowering
laterals. This will encourage branching.

TIE any remaining loose stems into the
support. Some of these can be trained
in later to create a new framework and take
over from the older stems.

Also prune this way…

Top tip

If you want to do a job really well, then
you should consider every element of that job.
The kind of ties you use, for example. Ties tend
to be a one-time thing, hard to reuse after
years sitting attached to a wire, so think about
choosing biodegradable or plastic-free options.
The knot and method of tying is also really
important. Don’t restrict the stem’s growth
with a knot that’s too tight, will tighten over
time or will rub and damage the stem. I find
a figure-of-eight knot works really well.

Spread the stems evenly and use plastic-free ties

Many woody plants that are grown as climbers,
but have no way of clinging on for themselves,
will occasionally need to be pruned and re-tied
in a similar way. This helps to maintain an
attractive framework, while shortening the
sideshoots improves vigour and flowering.
Prune after flowering if they bloom on the
previous year’s growth or in late winter/early
spring if they flower on the current year’s
growth. Examples are camellias, ceanothus,
chaenomeles, garrya and pyracantha.

Rambling rose
Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Flowering
Pruning

NEXT MONTH Frances shows you how to prune grapevines
120 GardenersWorld.com

Oct

Nov

Dec

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Q&A

Your questions answered

Edited by Emma Crawforth

This month

124 Gardeners’ Question Time

The BBC Radio 4 experts answer this
month’s pick of readers’ queries, including:
◼ how to speed up composting
◼ wildlife-friendly plants for shade
◼ ÌÓò⫳̫ßÓíí ÌÌæíÓĕÓþ â

Garden lichens

Lichens are extraordinary organisms arising from a mutually
beneficial relationship between fungi and algae. They can survive
extreme conditions – some lichens live on bare rock and are the first
colonisers of inhospitable places. In our gardens we’re most likely
to see lichens on tree trunks or the stems of shrubs, especially in
wetter areas like the far west of the UK. Here they tend to resemble
a grey-green covering: crusty, scaly or woolly.
Because they are slow-growing, lichens are often found on
old plants, which may not be in the best of health. Gardeners can
conclude the lichen caused their shrub to decline, when it is simply
losing vigour due to old age. I find the sight of lichen on an old
branch very beautiful and atmospheric. Brushing it off is one
solution if you don’t think it’s attractive, but this could damage your
plant, particularly if it’s fragile. Some lichens, especially the woolly
or frond-like ones, indicate the air is clean where they are growing,
so having them in the garden is cause for celebration.

Emma Crawforth, Gardening Editor

Q Should we control
the lichen on our
trees and shrubs?
Pam, by email

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM

A EMMA SAYS The lichen in

your garden will not harm your
plants and is completely natural,
so I suggest you leave it alone
and enjoy the added biodiversity
it gives your plot.

WATCH video guides and get tips on how to deal with

problems in the garden at GardenersWorld.com/problems

Contact us

Email your questions to Q&A@gardenersworld.com
or write to us at the address on p127.
November 2022

TOP TIP
Old trees and shrubs
hosting lichen colonies
benefit from an organic
mulch spread around
their feet to pep them
up by improving the soil.

GardenersWorld.com 123

GQT

Gardeners’ Question Time

Jòâ ăß âíæíÂÅ ĄÓòâ«â ̳̫ßâÓ Å ËæϚ³ÌÅò³Ì«ĕÓþ âЄæ°Ą
canna, two sluggish compost heaps and one very overgrown nerine

Bob
Flowerdew

Bob is an organic
gardener and has
designed his garden
to produce lots of veg,
fruit and cut ĕÓþ âæ

Garden writer
Christine appears on
BBC1’s The One Show.
She is also a lecturer
and tour leader.

Matt
Biggs

Matt trained
at Kew and has
been gardening
professionally for
more than 30 years.

Q What will grow in pots at
our coastal holiday home?
Carole Lambourne, Staffs

A CHRISTINE SAYS Sea air and

weeks without being tended to are
quite a challenge for any plant in
a pot, so you are going to need
larger containers than you think,
remembering that small ones dry
out very quickly.
Use a soil-based compost. Place
the containers on pot feet so they
can drain over wet periods, and
ensure they have drainage holes.
Erigeron glaucus grows up
to 40cm tall, producing large,

pale-purple, daisy-like flowers
above grey foliage. Normally it is
evergreen and should cope with
this planting position. Griselinia
littoralis ‘Variegata’ is an evergreen
shrub with thick, waxy, variegated
leaves and should cope planted in
nothing smaller than a 45cm pot.
Also take a look at the wide
range of escallonias now on offer.
Their flowers can be white, red
or pink, contrasting with dark
evergreen foliage. They vary a lot
in ultimate size, so check the label
to find one that’s
right for you.

Q&A

TEAM
ANSWER
Seaside
pots

Erigeron glaucus, or beach aster, thrives in salty, windy coastal sites

124 GardenersWorld.com

Q When do I harvest
ªâÓËÓÌæ âýíÓâĄЄ
grown chillies?
J Pike, by email

A BOB SAYS Most chillies change

Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’ will
grow well in a large pot in full sun

MATT SAYS Mediterranean
in free-draining compost.
Try lavenders like pink ‘Little

Herbs will also thrive, including
sage, bay, thyme and also oregano
‘Kent Beauty’, whose trailing stems
are covered with pale, rounded
leaves and tubular, pink flowers
surrounded by overlapping, deep
rose-pink bracts in summer.
For grasses, Eragrostis curvula
‘Totnes Burgundy’ has long, trailing
leaves that turn a deep burgundyred as they mature – it definitely
needs a tall pot. Pennisetum
thunbergii ‘Red Buttons’ has
bright red, button-like flowers,
floating above mounds of green
foliage from midsummer. And the
semi-evergreen Festuca glauca
‘Elijah Blue’ forms spiky mounds
of fine blue leaves.

colour as they ripen, usually going
red or purple, though some – such
as habaneros – may go orange.
They can be picked to use fresh
even before the colour changes but
they will be more flavoured and
process better when left longer,
and for drying this is certainly so.
Fortunately the plants can be
perennial if kept warm and bright
throughout winter so you don’t
need to pick fruits until required.
However they may be affected by
mould, so it’s better to pick and
process most of them.
Drying chillies is easy: tie

in a bag, or you
can pickle chillies

mix (which if you
like can then be
liquidised into a
hot sauce) or by
simply immersing
them in vinegar.
Chillies dry well
tied on a thread

November 2022

gardeners’ question time

Q&A

Q What climbers would be best for us to
«âÓþÓý âí° âÓÓªÓªÓòâ«â ÌÓªĔ Ϡ
Michelle West, by email

A MATT SAYS Clematis would

Clematis viticella ‘Abundance’
grows to three metres in height

serve you well. Either grow one
that’s slightly larger than the roof,
then give it a haircut when needed,
or use smaller hybrids and cut
them back each year.
Clematis viticella ‘Abundance’ is
fast-growing with lots of deep pinkpurple flowers from midsummer to

early autumn. Clematis x jouiniana,
a hybrid of a herbaceous clematis
and our native old man’s beard, is
a scrambler with frothy trusses of
white flowers in late summer and
early autumn; the variety ‘Praecox’
has pale blue flowers.
Just remember that the fallen
leaves of any deciduous climber
will need removing periodically to
stop a build-up damaging the roof.

Q Do our too-slow compost
heaps need a roof on top?

Q I want to replace my
dry lawn with plants.
How should I do it?
Sally Bevan, Essex

Glynis Brown, by email

is not bad in itself – but is perhaps
indicative of a cool heap. I’d make
your piles higher if possible – I pack
mine above shoulder-height. Heat
rises, so bigger heaps really cook.
Next, more variety of materials
helps, and extra material also adds
to the depth more quickly. Scavenge
more garden waste, even consider
soliciting neighbours’ contributions,
and – as I’m infamous for – human
urine is a brilliant, free, compost
stimulant. If not pee, then add more
water – if it’s too dry it will be slow.
Plastic sheet is sufficient to keep
in moisture but several layers of it,
or some bubble wrap, would be
better at retaining heat. A roof
would just get in the way.

best when left undisturbed, but
if they become overcrowded like
yours then knock them out of the
pot in spring or early summer
while they are dormant and divide
the bulbs up individually.
Retain the smaller ones, potting
these up and growing them on,
as these will go on to flower once
they reach a suitable size, normally
in two to three years. Replant the
larger bulbs into a free-draining
hot border for them to do well.
If in the south, plant with the tips
of the bulbs just below the surface
of the soil, but if in colder parts of
the UK plant slightly deeper to give
some protection. Discard any that
are diseased or damaged.

PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; SARAH CUTTLE; GETTY/MAGONE; JASON INGRAM

A

CHRISTINE SAYS Firstly,
improve the soil that you presently
have by adding as much organic
matter as possible: ideally, wellrotted compost or animal manure.
This will act as a sponge, retaining
water that plants can access
during dry spells.
Consider mulching the beds
in the winter or early spring,
once sufficient rain has fallen to
penetrate the soil to some depth.
This could be an organic material
such as a decorative bark or
something inorganic such as
a coloured glass or stone.
If you use an organic material
it will need topping up each year.
Remember to keep it away from
the stems of plants as it can cause
rotting if in contact with the stems.

November 2022

Q CĄÌ â³Ì ЕæĔÅÅ ³íæ
pot. What should I do?

Kevin and Karen, by email

A BOB SAYS First, slow compost

Adding organic matter makes
soil more moisture-retentive

Nerines spread happily when in
sunny, free-draining conditions

A CHRISTINE SAYS Nerines do

Intersperse woody and green
layers for quicker composting

Q IªþÅÅĕÓþ âæâ  âææ³ æϚæ°ÓòÅ.ýÓ³
growing them in the same spot each year?
Ian Tomisson, by email

A MATT SAYS Growing the same

Erysimum ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ lasts
several years and is easy to grow

plant year after year in the same
spot leads to nutrient deficiency
and sometimes pest or disease
problems, so improve the soil by
mulching with well-rotted organic
matter. Brassicas need a good, firm
planting bed so make sure that the
soil is well firmed by shuffling along
the surface on your heels, first one
way and then again at a 90-degree
angle, and finish off with a rake.
Being brassicas, wallflowers
are susceptible to club root – and
if they were infected, this would

remain in the soil for several years,
affecting any brassicas growing
there during that time.
You could also grow wallflowers
in pots of peat-free multi-purpose
compost mixed in with some soilbased John Innes-type compost
to give it some extra body, or you
could plant the mauve-flowered
perennial variety Erysimum
‘Bowles’ Mauve’, which can flower
almost all year round. Another
perennial wallflower, ‘Winter
Orchid’, has coppery-orange
flowers that age to purple. Both
are an excellent source of nectar
for pollinators over a long season.

GardenersWorld.com 125

Q How can I catch rain
with no downpipe?

Q How do I bring a live
yËæíâ ³ÌÓÓâæϠ

Rachbellact, by email

Sheila Richmond, by email

will accumulate rainwater over the
year. I suggest inexpensive plastic
dustbins with wide openings and
a tight lid to keep out debris.
Leave these open only during
very wet weather and put their lids
back on the rest of the time. If you
want the water even cleaner, you
can tie muslin or nylon net over
the open tops to filter the rain.

tree in its pot outside for as long
as possible. Give the rootball a
good soaking a few days before
bringing the tree inside.
Position it away from any heatsources, and place the pot in a
saucer that holds enough water
to keep the roots damp. Exercise
extreme care if you are planning
to put electric lights on the tree.

A BOB SAYS Any open container

A CHRISTINE SAYS Leave the

Old, second-hand black bins
can be found cheaply online

Q What do I plant for wildlife
in a shaded, clay border?
David Preston, West Midlands

A BOB SAYS If there is some

Q How can I make
a protective cage
ų í°³æªÓâßÅÌíæϠ
Margaret Castle, by email

A CHRISTINE SAYS These are

made from polythene tubing.
Select the length required to cover
your bed with, then insert 30cm
canes into the ground at intervals
that cover the bed and on each
side of the bed.
Push the end of the tubing onto
each of the canes to secure them
and then cover the bent tubes
with either netting or fleece.

Q Do ants do anything
to improve our gardens?
David Brown, by email

A BOB SAYS Ants are a food

source for a vast range of other
creatures, especially woodpeckers,
and they also interact with many
of our garden ‘friends and foes’,
sometimes quite inadvertently
to our benefit.
They’re necessary for some
other critters such as the large
blue butterfly, Phengaris arion,
which apparently lodges in their
nests, and they also process plant
and animal material into fertile soil.

126 GardenersWorld.com

Hardy geraniums like ‘Lily Lovell’
are often perfect for shady sites

Q What can I plant in
the dry shade of a large
silver birch tree?
Philip Rose, by email

A MATT SAYS Cyclamen

hederifolium, with white
and pink flowers and leaves
patterned with silver, would
flourish in these conditions;
hardy geraniums, too.
Geranium x cantabrigiense
’St Ola’ has bright white flowers
in spring and early summer,
topping a carpet of evergreen
leaves that become red-tinted
in winter. Geranium phaeum
comes in several forms like whiteflowered ‘Album’, and ‘Lily Lovell’
with lilac-purple flowers.
The white flowers and silvery
leaves of Lamium maculatum
‘White Nancy’ form a good ground
cover, and sweet woodruff (Galium
odoratum) has starry, white spring
flowers. The hart’s tongue fern
(Asplenium scolopendrium) grows
well in dry shade, and Dryopteris
filix-mas ‘Linearis Polydactyla’
has unusual crested fronds.

moisture in your clay, I‘d most
strongly recommend heavilyfruiting and early-flowering shrubs,
especially amelanchiers, ribes,
mahonias, sambucus and hollies,
and under this herbaceous plants
such as brunneras, pulmonarias,
alkanets and Alchemilla mollis.
However, if it’s very dry the
choice narrows considerably,
though of course ivy may well
succeed on the fence if watered

while establishing. I also find
that Iris foetidissima, stinking iris,
does surprisingly well in dry shade.
Little known but excellent for its
early flowering is a comfrey, but
not the rampant ‘liquid feed’ sort:
Symphytum orientale is compact,
with attractive winter foliage and
early, bee-friendly white flowers,
and it tolerates the most extreme
dry shade, once established. And
if you’ve the space to let them
ramble, brambles are superb for
wildlife, though difficult to confine.

Q&A

HOT
TOPIC

Plants for
shade

Iris foetidissima has attractive flowers and, later, striking red fruits

November 2022

PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; GETTY/LOUISE HEUSINKVELD); JASON INGRAM

Tubing hoops are easy to move
around between different crops

Q&A
Q My potted canna
Ì ý âĕÓþ âæ t°ĄϠ
Kevin Campbell, by email

A CHRISTINE SAYS Place your

Cannas are greedy, wanting lots
of nutrients and sun to flower

pot in a sheltered position and
ensure it doesn’t get too wet. If
you have a greenhouse or a porch
I would put the plant in there.
When it comes into growth in
spring, feed it weekly with halfstrength tomato food – it contains
potash and should encourage the
plant to flower. Ensure the pot is
placed in a sunny site.

Q My aeonium, indoors
now, looks poorly. Help!
Daph, by email

A MATT SAYS Water them

moderately during the growing
season, and not at all when
dormant. Also apply a balanced
liquid fertiliser two or three times
when they are in growth.
Before bringing them indoors
treat them with nematodes for
vine weevil, then overwinter them
in a bright, cool, frost-free place.

Join the Woodland Trust this autumn
and help save UK woods and their wildlife
Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst
Falls’ climbs to five metres

Q Should I remove my
wisteria’s suckers?
Jo Chambers, by email

A BOB SAYS Almost certainly any

Bring aeoniums indoors, but
avoid warmer parts of the home

Make a
GL̳IHUHQFH

shoots from below the base of the
stem will be from the rootstock
and need removing. It could be
that these are pushing up because
the top of the plant is not happy.
Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst
Falls’ is native to the southern
United States, so needs a really
warm position to thrive.

Catch up with
Gardeners’ Question Time Enjoy a fascinating
crop of listeners’ questions and answers
from the experts every week, on BBC Radio 4,
%â³ĄæíßËϚâ ß í ÓÌ]òÌĄæíßË 

Contact us

Email your questions to Q&A@GardenersWorld.com
Write to Q&A, Gardeners’ World Magazine,
Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT

T

rees are crucial for our
environment. That’s why
the Woodland Trust
goes above and beyond to
protect woods, plant trees
and create havens for wildlife
across the nation.
Since 1972, the charity has
planted more than 55 million
trees and every year it creates
thousands of acres of new
woodland, plus it’s saved more
than 1,000 ancient woods from
destruction since 1999. These are
all significant achievements, but
there’s still so much more work
to do – and you can help.
By becoming a member from
just £4 a month, you can help
the Woodland Trust’s crucial
efforts to continue, and you’ll feel
good knowing you’re playing
your part in helping our wildlife
and creating a greener world
for future generations.

Embrace the season
Now the summer heat is over, and
autumn is well and truly here, why
not get out into the woods? It’s

a great time to crunch your way
through colourful leaves and enjoy
the sights, smells and sounds of
the new season. When you join
the Woodland Trust, you’ll be sent
a directory of more than 1,000
woods you can visit free of charge,
so there’ll certainly be no shortage
for you to explore.

Your membership...
1 Helps more than 1,000 woods
grow and thrive, keeping
them open for everyone
to enjoy all year round
1 Creates more homes
for wildlife, including
woodpeckers and dormice,
by restoring their natural
woodland homes
1 Contributes towards the
planting of new native trees,
such as oak, beech, birch
and alder
1 Stands up for woodland under
threat from development, so
it’s protected and kept safe for
future generations to enjoy

We regret that we cannot offer a personal garden advisory service.

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/how-to for more pest and disease

advice, along with creative and problem-solving projects

November 2022

For more information, and to
join the Woodland Trust today
from just £4 a month, visit
woodlandtrust.org.uk/join
Registered charity numbers 294344 and SC038885

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November 2022

GardenersWorld.com 129

Issue number 381

Crossword
Put down your trowel, pick up a pen and
exercise those brain muscles instead…
1

5

4

3

2

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Editorial

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How to get in touch Please contact us online in the first instance

18

19

Features Editor Adam Duxbury Gardening Editor Emma Crawforth Reviews Editor Kay Maguire
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Art

Art Editor Nikki Fabris Deputy Art Editor Andrew Ellis
Reprographics by rhapsody

21

22

23

24

With thanks to Paula Boyd-Barrett, Neil Darby, Greg Loades, Jean Postle, Rosie Yeomans

GardenersWorld.com

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ACROSS
1 Put netting over these plot
staples to deter pigeons (9)
7 One of many names for
Reseda luteola (4)

DOWN
1 Gather up and bin rose
leaves affected by this
fungal disease (5,4)

8 Start pruning __ trees when
dormant to promote fruiting (5)

2 Replenish gravel mulch
around these rockery plants
to protect against damp soil (7)

9 Time to sow a green manure
crop such as winter __ (3)

3 Save ripe __ from crops such
as beans to sow next year (5)

10 __back is a common
symptom of disease in plants (3)

4 Type of grass grown to
produce edible grain (6)

11 Immature buds on
a potato (4)
12 __ lily is an alternative name
for Lilium regale (5)
13 Paphiopedilum, or __ orchid,
makes an exotic houseplant (7)
15 Pulsatilla vulgaris is better
known as __flower (6)
17 Fungus gnats, greenhouse
pests, are also called __ flies (7)
20 Finish planting these popular
spring bulbs this month (6)
22 Genus of tropical evergreen
shrubs with flaming blooms (5)
23 The horse chestnut genus (8)
24 Dry outer covering of
a fruit or seed (4)

5 Common name for Lathyrus
odoratus (5,3)
6 Cosy protection for early
sowings of peas, for example (6)
13 Term for a stalkless leaf
directly attached to a plant
stem (7)
14 Colourful name for
Quercus rubra (3,3)

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16 This large, yellow fruit is ideal
for winter jams and jellies (6)
18 Hedera hibernica is
commonly called __ ivy (5)
19 Lift and pot up chicory __
to force in the dark (5)
21 Genus of spiny evergreen
shrubs with bright yellow, pealike blooms all year round (4)

SOLUTIONS to this crossword can be found in Have your say on p18
130 GardenersWorld.com

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November 2022

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handmade for you on the Sussex Coast.
Various colours available. Fish sold
singularly or in shoals. £35 each, or three
for £100, five for £160 or seven for £210.
Fabulous in the snow.
Visit our website for unique handmade
gifts for the garden and home.
Gift vouchers available.

Prices start at £6.99 + P & P.

cozycamels.co.uk

Potter and Mooch
Looking for something completely unique?
We have the perfect Christmas gift.
Earrings designed for a single piercing due
to the small bar that runs up the back of
the lobe. Each pair is handmade in England
on either 925 Sterling Silver, 14ct Rose or
Yellow Gold-Filled wires.
Hypo-allergenic and Nickel free.

01243 573411
ongley-snookdesigns.com

Perfect for Everyone
this Christmas
Waterproof, lightweight and easy to slip
on/off. Ideal for a trip to the allotments or
to wear whilst out in the garden! Over 25
designs available online for Ladies or Men.
For our full range which include Wellies
and Chelsea Boots visit us online.
Something for everyone on your list!

Loved by all ages. From £24 per pair.
BUY 1 PAIR GET A 2nd WITH 30% OFF.
Online or mail order.

Cream Pearl on Sterling Silver

01903 331744
potterandmooch.co.uk

01202 232357
backdoorshoes.co.uk

Devenick Designs

Pure Organic
Vanilla Extract

‘Hagrid’ the Royal Stag garden sculpture is
part of our Thinimals® collection.
Standing at 1.7m tall. This contemporary
design captures the bold stature of this
solitary animal. Made in Steel, the
sculpture is suited to formal or informal
styles of garden.
Visit our website to view our beautiful
designs or contact us for more information.

07720 841394
devenickdesigns.co.uk
Oketor

Comfort with Style –
Leather Mules
A small family business offering high quality
leather mules in three styles (one suitable
for a wider foot) and seven colours.

Haytor

Welstor

132 gardenersworld.com

Perfect for indoor and outdoor wear.
An arch support is an integral feature
helping to create additional comfort.

Gorilla Vanilla is made in the UK using
Organic Vanilla Beans specially grown by
select farmers in Uganda - the land of
mountain gorillas. This organically grown
vanilla is pollinated, harvested and cured
to give a distinctively rich flavour for your
baking, desserts and more.
Gorilla Vanilla is produced by Foodie
Flavours Ltd, known for their extensive
range of high strength natural flavourings.

foodieflavours.com

The Sussex Trug
A Sussex Trug is a traditional gardening
accessory, usually the most cherished of
all gardening tools.
The perfect gift to be used for a lifetime
and appreciated by every gardener.
Hand made in Sussex, signed, dated,
stamped and sent next day from order.

We offer sizes 2-14 (35-49).
Prices £55.00 and £60.00
with £3.50 P&P (2nd class)
or £5.50 P&P (1st class).

A choice of five sizes and two designs with
the very popular No.7 just £49.90 +p&p

01364 652733
themulecompany.co.uk

01323 440452
trugmakers.co.uk

Visit my website to view, or phone
ANYTIME to order or more info.

November 2022

To advertise in the classified section call 020 7150 5155

Coloured by Nature

Seed Storage Boxes

Millions of years in the making genuine
gemstones will gift you a lifetime of
pleasure. Discover a world of natural
beauty at Christin Ranger Jewellery.

These beautiful seed storage boxes come in
3 delightful colours, complete with hinged
lids, metal handles and secure closures. It is
slightly larger than others on the market so
if you collect large numbers of seeds this is
the tin for you. The internal compartments
and depth allow you to organise your seeds,
labels and mini potting tools all
in one place.

Pictured are the sterling silver blue topaz
and peridot earrings £79, pendant £69.
Free UK Shipping.
Enjoy the set and save 15%
using code SET22.
“Exquisitely high quality and beautifully
designed. Excellent value too.” Anne M.
Verified Buyer

A beautiful and practical gift for any
gardener. Available in French Grey,
Vintage Cream or Midnight Black
Size H16 x W22 x L16cm. Only £22.99

01424 773091
christinranger.com

01285 760 505
gardening-naturally.com

Birdbaths, Planters &
Garden Ornaments

Give the Gift of Theatre
this Christmas

Chilstone hand craft beautiful birdbaths,
planters and garden ornaments in Kent.
We make a wide range of gifts for garden
lovers. Our fine cast stone can be engraved
with a personal message to create an extra
special present to last for years to come.

Theatre Tokens are Gift Cards and eGifts
with no expiry date that can be used
at more than 270 theatres nationwide,
including all of London’s West End. Treat
someone to a show at their local theatre,
or a trip to London’s theatreland.

Gift vouchers are also available.

Know a mega fan?

See our website or request a brochure
for inspiration.

Just a £5 Token is enough for a seat,
upgrade on their next visit.

01892 740866
chilstone.com

Harris Dryboot
Over 65 years in production and still the
UK’s favourite waterproof ankle boot.
Washable and quick drying with a padded
cotton lining for cool all-day comfort.
The Harris Dryboot has a reinforced
underarch shank for heavy digging or rough
terrain walking and a deep waterproof
gusset for easy access and removal.
Made in Malaysia from high quality natural
rubber. Suitable for vegans.

Remember this pressie idea when a
surprise guest arrives on Christmas Day
and send an eGift in seconds.

TheatreTokens.com

Save Knees
with OneLeg
OneLeg is a functional, ergonomic stool
designed for use in the garden or anywhere
around the home or workplace where you
need to work at low levels. The stool with
its rounded base is a useful aid, proven to
help those who have good general mobility,
but may suffer with lower back issues or
who find kneeling difficult or painful.

Only £81.99 plus p&p.
The perfect Christmas gift.

07974 977112
thedrybootcompany.com

0800 195 4252
Oneleg.co.uk

Anne Cotterill
Christmas Cards

Perilla Alpaca Socks
for Gardeners

Beautiful floral greetings cards to buy
from home. These high quality Christmas,
birthday and blank cards are all from the
original flower paintings of Anne Cotterill.
Vibrant and colourful, they are the perfect
choice for any gardener or flower-lover.

Treat your feet to gorgeous 75% baby
alpaca socks. There are eight ranges to
choose from including the thick walking
socks (shown). Alpaca fibre has higher
insulating properties, repels odour and
bacteria but gently wicks away moisture
keeping feet feeling fresh all day.

Contact Mill House Fine Art Publishing for
a free mail order catalogue or visit our
website to order online.

01297 553100
millhousefineart.com
November 2022

Great palette of colours and bespoke
gift box options available.

01886 853 615
Perilla.co.uk
gardenersworld.com 133

Marketplace

Christmas Gifts

Seaside Escapes with
Coastal Cottages

Ornately Lanterns –
Happy Home Décor!

Book Christmas & New Years holidays.

Add glowing colour to your garden with
stunning hand painted glass suncatchers
and candle lamps! These unique stained
glass pieces are individually handmade
for your home & garden: windowsills,
fireplaces, patio and conservatory.
Combining a range of radiant colours
which look wonderful come rain or shine
– we associate happiness with colour and
warmth, so these are perfect pieces of joy!

Gift vouchers available.
Special offer: £30 deposit for 2023 bookings.
Autumn/winter short breaks also available.

01437 765765
coastalcottages.co.uk

ornatelylanterns@gmail.com
ornatelylanterns.com

Bespoke Collectable
Sculpture

Beautiful Garden Urn

Ruth Moilliet Sculpture produce highly
finished metal sculptures inspired by the
plant kingdom. Clients can choose from an
existing portfolio or commission a bespoke
piece. Smaller works are available to buy,
follow the purchase link on the website
and start your collection!

Leander’s beautiful Garden Urn in rusted
iron makes a special present for the
keen gardener.
It can be used in a large pot with a
combination of annuals, or in the border
to support a patio rose. It also makes a
stunning centrepiece for a festive
floral arrangement.

Featured artwork - Allium Stems - an
affordable addition to any home or garden,
available in 5 colours, making an ideal
Christmas gift.

For this and many other useful designs
for supporting plants visit our website.

sculpture@ruthmoilliet.com
ruthmoilliet.com

01773 550495
leanderplantsupports.co.uk

Trimstyle Decor

Thomas Smith’s
Sussex Trugs

We have been manufacturing and
distributing MAINTENANCE FREE gazebos
and summerhouses since 2006. Whether
you choose ‘Victorian’ or ‘Contemporary’
style, they will compliment and become an
eye catching feature in any garden. Our all
glass summerhouse, with sliding windows
and doors, gives you a panoramic 360
degree view of your garden.
*Aluminium frame *Fibreglass slate
effect roof. *Solid PVC decorative panels.
*Toughened safety glass
(summerhouse only).

Sussex Trugs are timeless gardening
baskets used all around the world.
Smith’s are the original makers dating
back to 1829 and our Trugs are all
guaranteed for five years. Ideal
present for gardeners of all ages.
Red Lion Hall, New Road,
Magham Down, Herstmonceux,
Sussex, BN27 1PN.
01323 871640

01543 252705
trimstyledecor.com

sales@sussextrugs.com
sussextrugs.com

Commission a
Beloved Pet Sculpture

Tuttabankem

Sculptor Barry Sykes can make a life-sized
portrait sculpture of your much loved pets
or favourite creatures. From tiny birds to
roaming lions, he will use your ideas to
craft a bespoke likeness in dense layers of
galvanised wire mesh. Ideally suited outside
in all weathers or a design feature indoors.
Still just time for Christmas orders!

Tuttabankem offer a range of elegant silk
velvet and cruising cotton kaftans, tops and
pure cotton nighties – the perfect gift for
yourself or a loved one.
Pictured is our gorgeous Genoa Silk Velvet
Top – throw on and look fabulous!
Telephone us for a free catalogue.

Call or visit us online to see more.

07951 039663
animalsinwire.co.uk
134 gardenersworld.com

01572 717332
tuttabankem.com
November 2022

Marketplace

Christmas Gifts

Now there’s no reason
why you should have to
put a good book down.
A Serious Light will help
you read in comfort
for longer.

November 2022

gardenersworld.com 135

Marketplace

Christmas Gifts
10% OFF *
Your next purchase
Use code GW22
*Terms apply

No more
wet knees
Gardening trousers with
integrated kneepads

® The Royal Horticultural Society. The Royal Horticultural Society, and its logo, are trade marks of The Royal Horticultural Society (Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262) and used under licence from RHS Enterprises Limited.

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Please charge £________________ from my credit/debit card
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Thank you for your order. If you DO NOT wish to receive offers from carefully selected companies* please tick the box
*Please see our full privacy policy at www.fifecountry.co.uk Company Reg No 15281 Trusted for over 130 Years

136 gardenersworld.com

5WVMa*IKS
Guarantee

Mon-Fri 9-7pm, Sat 9-5pm, Sun 11-4pm

Please quote code 22AGW2 on our website, by ‘phone
or return coupon to: FREEPOST RTCK-ZKYJ-GGRB,
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Tel: 0345 607 6632

Please Quote 22AGW2

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November 2022

To advertise in the classified section call 020 7150 5155

Marketplace

Lifestyle

Rated Excellent from 9,000+ reviews

As

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Easily sell your valuables all in one go

And thousands more items
Request your free postage pack

Use code
‘GW15’ for

Online: vintagecashcow.co.uk/go/GW15
(lines open Monday to Friday - 10am - 5pm)

November 2022

gardenersworld.com 137

Marketplace

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Lifestyle
GREENHOUSE HEATERS
PROPAGATION MATS
FRUIT CAGES • VEGETABLE CAGES
GARDENING PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
CALL 01484 401134
www.hotboxheaters.co.uk

The UK’s No.1 Homelift
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YOUR ORDER*
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for your FREE catalogue
call 01933 311 077 or visit
www.widerfitshoes.co.uk
*Excluding Postage & Packing.
Not valid with any other promotion.

FREE POSTAGE
On Returns & Exchanges For UK Orders

BATHE EASILY AND SAFELY ONCE AGAIN

SIT COMFORTABLY
AND SAFELY

Care homes at the heart of your community

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MADE IN THE UK

LET THE BELT GENTLY AND
SAFELY LOWER YOU IN

A PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FROM START TO FINISH
- WE HANDLE EVERYTHING
• Battery operated - no wiring /
• Sit at the bottom of your bath
cables
& enjoy a good soak!
• Minimum 12 baths per charge • Fitted within an hour
• Rechargeable battery
• Made in
Britain
• Eases aches and pains
OCTOBER

Relax with a deep-soak bather from

Call today for your
FREE brochure
CODE: GW10

138 gardenersworld.com

SALE

25%
OFF *

0800 888 6111
* Offer ends 31 December 2022

November 2022

Marketplace

To advertise in the classified section call 020 7150 5155

199

7 - 2o22

25

Riser
Recliner Chairs

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50%

50%

50%

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OFF

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Riser Recliners

We’re Rated Excellent

For a brochure call FREE on

0800 854 330
or see full range at www.willowbrook.co.uk

Fixed & Riser Recliner Matching Sofas

Adjustable Beds

Sit, recline and rise, effortlessly, in a Riser Recliner
• Recline to relax with better leg elevation

• FREE Delivery and installation

• Rise to your feet and be more independent

• Over 80,000 satisfied customers over 25 years

• VAT-FREE for qualifying customers

• FREE removal of old furniture

*Up to 50% OFF applies to selected items, excludes Home Care range. Optional extras charged as per retail price list.
Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer ends 31/12/22.

GW20/10/22c

INDEPENDENT BATHING IN THE COMFORT
OF YOUR OWN BATH
Special Offe
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20%
O
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FITTED
IN JUST
1 HOUR

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Enjoy full depth bathing

For a brochure or free home demonstration
Trusted trader

Approved
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Call
visit www.aqualift.uk.com

†Applies to deluxe model only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer ends 31/12/22.

November 2022

GW20/10/22q

gardenersworld.com 139

Marketplace

140 gardenersworld.com

Garden

November 2022

Marketplace

To advertise in the classified section call 020 7150 5155

Autumn and Winter
Seed Mix

Garden

Sunflower Hearts

Over 300,000
Happy Customers

12.55kg

25.1kg (2 x 12.55kg)

12.55kg

15kg (3 x 5kg)

£33.99

£64.99

£29.49

£36.49

Premium Gold Seed Mix

Premium Insect Suet Pellets

20% off
your first order
Use offer code

GWGB20

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on orders over £25

12.55kg

15kg (3 x 5kg)

12.75kg

25.5kg (2 x 12.75kg)

£22.99

£28.99

£23.99

£46.99

20% off offer ends 30/11/22. This offer code can only be used once. Some exclusions apply, please visit https://www.gardenbird.co.uk/terms-and-conditions for full details.
*Delivery charges apply for orders under £25 or post codes classed as ‘out of areas’. See www.gardenbird.co.uk/delivery. Prices shown are subject to change.

Find our full range at www.gardenbird.co.uk or call us on 0800 6444 322 (8.30am - 5pm Monday to Friday)

Garolla garage doors are expertly
made to measure in our own
UK factories, they’re strong and
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we’ll come and measure up
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• ACOUSTIC & THERMAL INSULATION
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• AVAILABLE IN 21 COLOURS

CALL US TODAY FREE ON:

0800 118 2870
MOBILE:

07537 149 128
*Offer valid for openings up to 2.4m wide & including 2 remote controls, 55mm white slats, internal manual override.

November 2022

www.garolla.co.uk

gardenersworld.com 141

Marketplace
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Toughened safety glass
Extra strong aluminium
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Adjustable shelving

Sea
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Garden/ Nursery

Tomatoes, chillies, salads – and much more

www.seaspringseeds.co.uk

Growers of a wide selection
of fruit trees for all situations

Call for a FREE
40 page brochure
Ref: GWC1344,
GWC2244, FREEPOST Crick, Northampton NN6 7XS www.garden-products.co.uk

0800 298 6284

Detailed catalogue available

01905 841587
www.walcotnursery.co.uk

Two Wests & Elliott
Quality Equipment

ALSTROEMERIA & IRIS

for Greenhouse and Garden
We stock a massive range of products with
many exclusive to us including Planters
Raised Beds • Plant Supports • Garden Arches
Auto Vent Openers • Louvres
Shade Blinds • Water Butts
Watering Systems • Hosepipes
Greenhouse Shelves • Benching
Compost Bins • Weed Burners
Greenhouses • Polythene Tunnels

call 01246 451077 for a free catalogue
Two Wests & Elliott (GW) Unit 4 Carrwood Rd,
Sheepbridge Ind.Estate, Chesterfield S41 9RH

OWN A BESPOKE NATIONWIDE VERANDA TODAY
LUXURY OUTDOOR LIVING ALL YEAR ROUND FROM THE NUMBER ONE HOME IMPROVEMENT COMPANY

FREE plant with all orders
LARGE pots of Iris only £7
SAVE with new 2022 Iris &
Alstroemeria collections
Free illustrated catalogue
01939 291475
Viv Marsh Postal Plants (GW)
Walford Heath
Shrewsbury, SY4 2HT

www.postalplants.co.uk

Living indoors…outdoors

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 FREE design consultation

 FCA approved

For a FREE brochure or no obligation design consultation

Call us today on 0800 825 0532
or visit us online at www.nationwideltd.co.uk

Call 0800 3317742 or visit www.chelseasummerhouses.co.uk

N

HOME INNOVATIONS

24 MONTHS INTEREST FREE CREDIT AVAILABLE*
*Credit is subject to status and affordability. Representative Example: Cash price £4,500.00, 30% deposit of £1,350.00, amount
of credit £3,150.00, annual rate of interest 0% p.a fixed, 0% APR Representative, 24 monthly repayments of £131.25, total
amount payable £4,500.00 (including deposit).

142 gardenersworld.com

Timeless designs and handmade in the finest timbers;
a Chelsea Summerhouse is the idyllic hideaway to
escape from the interruptions of everyday life.

Buy with 12 Months Interest Free Credit 0% APR
Example Cash Price £5995. Deposit £1499. Pay balance of £4496
0% APR
representative

over 12 monthly payments of £374.67. Total amount payable £5995. representative
Credit subject to status.

November 2022

Marketplace

To advertise in the classified section call 020 7150 5155

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Ø3HMFDVHBJØ1N@C Ø!TBJHMFG@LØ,*Ø $
3DKØØØ%@WØØØHMENGDCFHMF BN TJ

"@S@KNFTDØ1DPTDRSØ+HMDØØ

Gee Tee Bulb
Company
UK Daffodils
Tulips
Alliums
UK Bluebells
+ many more

Top Quality, Top Size Bulbs
Flower Bulb Specialists Since 1868

Please quote GW22NO

By Appointment to
HRH The Prince of Wales
Supplier of Garden Flower Bulbs
P. de Jager & Sons Limited
Kent

100
500
£17.50 £80.00
£40.00
£22.00 per 10
£10.00 £17.50 £80.00
£10.00 £17.50 £80.00
£7.00
£13.00
£35.00
£17.50 per 10
£4.50
£8.25
£5.00
£9.00
£8.00
£15.00
£7.50
£14.00
£7.50
£14.00
£12.50 £20.00
£12.50 £20.00
£12.50 £20.00

£9.50 PER 3 POTS £27.50 PER 9 POTS

CYCLAMEN IN 9 CM POTS

1000
£150.00

£150.00
£150.00

Mixture

Many more varieties on our website •$OOEXOEVDUHŴRZHULQJVL]HLQFOXGLQJIUHHJLIW
Delivery is £4.50 UK mainland only • Payment with order please •7HORUHPDLOIRUGHOLYHU\HVVHQWLDO

info@eurobulbs.co.uk • 01945 430009
Eurobulbs 314,Smeeth Rd, Marshland St James, Wisbech.Cambs PE14 8EP
Order direct online at www.dejager.co.uk
to get a 10% discount

10 Placatus Warham Snowdrop FREE
with £50 spend on bulbs

For a FREE Catalogue Tel: 01622 840229

The Walnut Tree Company
is the leading supplier of
quality Walnut timber,
Walnut fruit, Sweet Chestnut,
Almond, and Kentish Cobnut
trees. Alexander Hunt also
gives specialist advice for the
garden, orchard, forest and
amenities/landscape uses.

FAMILY NURSERY BUSINESS – EST 1963

SPRING
FLOWERING
BULBS

walnurees.co.uk
telephone
01732 882 734
website
walnuttrees.co.uk

facebook
/PotashFarm
mobile
07979 525 939

twitter
@PotashFarm
email
info@walnuttrees.co.uk

SPRING
SINGLE SNOWDROPS £10.50 PER 100 MINIATURE DAFFODILS
DOUBLE SNOWDROPS
£15 PER 100 TETE A TETE / MINNOW
ENGLISH BLUEBELLS
£14 PER 100 FRITILLARIA
ACONITES
£10 PER 50 MINIATURE TULIPS
CROCUS
£9 PER 50 DOGS TOOTH PAGODA
DWARF IRIS
£10 PER 50 HYACINTHS

Single Snowdrops

£10.95 per 100 £52.95 per 500 Wood Anemone (Snow White) £11.95 per 50 £22.50 per 100

Double Snowdrops

£15.95 per 100 £74.95 per 500 Lobularis Lent Lily (Wild Daff)

English Bluebells

£16.50 per 100 £78.00 per 500

Winter Aconites

£11.95 per 50 £21.95 per 100

Wild Garlic

£10.95 per 50 £19.95 per 100

£12.00 per 50

Large Mixed Spring or Dwarf Mixed Winter Crocus
(Mixed Colours)

£7.95 per 50 £15.95 per 100

Fritillaria (Snakehead Lily) £10.50 per 50 £18.95 per 100

FLOWERING BULBS

Dwarf Iris (Reticulata)
Allium Purple Sensation

£8.95 per 15

£10 PER 50

Tête-à-Tête Dwarf Narcissus £5.50 per 25

£10 PER 50
£10 PER 50
£11 PER 10
£10 PER 15

Triumph Tulips Mixed
Anemone de Bride Mixed

CREDIT AND DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED
P&P FREE – MAKE CHEQUES & POSTAL ORDERS PAYABLE TO:

ANGLIA BULBS, LORDS LANE, WISBECH, CAMBS PE13 4TU
PHONE 01945 410966

November 2022

Double Snowdrops
Elwessi Snowdrops
Snowdrop Plicatus Warham
Hyamalis (Winter Aconite)
£5.75
Cultivated English Bluebells
£5.75
Large Flowering Crocus Mix
Leucojum Gravetye Giant
£18.00
Erythronium Pagoda
Muscari Armeniacum (Grape Hyacinth)
Scilla Siberica Bright Blue
Mixed Garden Tulips
Fritillaria Meleagris (snakeshead lily) £4.00
Ranunculas (5 colours)
Tete e Tete Narcissus
£6.50
Narcissus Elka
£6.50
Narcissus Rip Van Winkle
£6.50

50
£9.00
£22.50

Specie Crocus Collection
£9.50
25 of 4 different varieties: Snow Bunting, Whitwell Purple, Ruby Giant, Gipsy Girl

Call: 01255 830181
or visit: www.kenmuir.co.uk
to request your

FREE brochure

TOP QUALITY BULBS FOR SPRING FLOWERING
25
£5.25
£12.50

www.gee-tee.co.uk
01205 260412

Nursery

£8.00 per 50 £15.00 per 100

Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)
£10.50 per 50

£14.00 per 100

Queen of the Night Tullip

£6.50 per 25

£11.95 per 50

£4.50 per 25

£8.00 per 50 Pheasant Eye Narcissus

£7.95 per 15

£11.95 per 25

£3.50 per 25

£6.45 per 50 Thalia Dwarf Narcissus

£6.50 per 25

£11.95 per 50

All orders over £50 will receive 50 FREE
Puschkinia Libanotica (Russian Snowdrop)
Please add £3.95 towards P&P. All major debit and credit cards accepted.
(IIL`*V\U[Y`.HYKLUZ3P[[SL,HZ[ÄLSK)HYU3`UU9VHK>PZILJO*HTIZ7,(3

7SLHZL]PZP[V\Y^LIZP[LMVYTHU`TVYL]HYPL[PLZPUJS\KPUNK^HYMKHZHUK[\SPWZ

01945 464167 - www.abbeycountrygardens.co.uk
gardenersworld.com 143

NEXT month...
December issue on sale 17 November

YOUR 2023 CALENDAR
Your 12-month wall calendar with beautiful garden scenes

Your calendar includes:
Seasonal photos of plants and gardens
■ Key gardening jobs of the month
■ Essential gardening diary dates
■ Space for your gardening notes

PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/ANNA OSTANINA;
JASON INGRAM

■

The natural health service –
ADAM explores hospital gardens

144 GardenersWorld.com

We reveal the real value of trees
– for people and the planet

Homegrown fruit – plan ahead with
MONTY for delicious harvests
November 2022

Your

Christmas
made easy
Christmas
house plants
– how to keep
yours alive

How to make
a homegrown
wreath and other
decorations

What to grow for festive
pickings – follow Alan’s guide
10%
OFF*

Stocking fillers
for gardeners
– all for less
than £10!

Save £££s on online garden and plant shopping – only with your December issue
Subscribers – you’ll save 15% when you shop with retailers including:
◼ Farmer Gracy ◼ Gardening Direct ◼ Hayloft ◼ J Parker’s ◼ Sarah Raven ◼ You Garden *restrictions apply

offer

BLACKBERRY
‘BLACK CASCADE’

Totally turnips! REKHA shares her
seasonal homegrown recipe
November 2022

Discover what to prune in December
with FRANCES’ step-by-step guide

*JUST PAY £6.99 POSTAGE

3 FREE* Trailing Blackberry ‘Black
Cascade’ for every reader, worth £29.97

GardenersWorld.com 145

And finally...

Tales from

Titchmarsh
Assumptions. We are all guilty
of them. After a summer that
was reputedly the driest since 1976
you could be forgiven, if you take
note of the daily news bulletins, for
thinking that every year from now
on will be hotter and drier than the
last. It will not. The reason I am so
confident? Weather.
Our worries about global warming
and climate change are well founded,
but there will still be variations year
on year in what the sky throws at us
and how the sun parches our land.
The general trend may be for a rise
in temperatures and sea levels,
but within that rise there will be
peaks and troughs – always have
been, always will be. But this realistic
approach seems to have been lost
in the shrill and sensationalist tenor
of the news today.
Perhaps it is something to do with
growing older, but I find myself
becoming more sanguine with the
years: not in any way denying that our
contributions to climate change need
to be reined in, but in taking a

146 GardenersWorld.com

If every
single person
grew a flower
or two, on
doorstep,
balcony, garden
and estate,
imagine the
difference we
could make

pragmatic view of how that might best
be improved by each individual, rather
than collectively running around like
a chicken with its head cut off and
waiting for Armageddon.
As gardeners we have a
responsibility to our own patch
of earth – however small. That bee,
which visits the flowers you so
generously contribute to the greening
of the earth, is unaware of the bigger
picture. But that bee is your direct
contact with the landscape, the green
planet, the environment – call it what
you will. If every single person grew
a flower or two, on doorstep, balcony,
garden and estate, imagine the
difference we could make. Wishful
thinking? Perhaps. But it is,
nevertheless, a practical way of
creating change and one which salves
the conscience of each and every one
of us; knowing that the little bit of
difference we make, when joined
on to all the other little bits, makes
something huge and effective.
But there will still be weather. There
will be good years and bad years for
potatoes and tomatoes. Your sweet
peas might go over early as mine did
this year, but they are just as likely,
in the next few years, to be well
watered almost every day. Weather.
Am I trying to see a rosy picture
where such does not exist? Not
at all. Just trying to redress the
balance of endless pessimism
and open the eyes of those who
see only doom and gloom to the
positive ways in which we can
help to ameliorate our lot.
The world seems so angry of
late – often with good reason.
But if we come this way only
once, surely we have a duty to
make the best of it; to show our
children and grandchildren the
wonders and joys of nature, as
well as instilling in them the need
to take care of it. This year the
large blue butterfly had its best
year in 150 years. Declared
extinct in 1979, numbers have
multiplied thanks to the work of

scientists and conservation bodies
who have cooperated to create
hospitable sites for their survival. That
is a national triumph, but there are
smaller ones we can achieve at home.
We need countryside, farm
headlands and hedgerows that are
home to native species of plants and
flowers, trees and shrubs, but don’t
be cajoled into turning your tiny
garden into a wilderness. Insects,
birds and mammals are less interested
in the country of origin of the flowers
in your garden. If your ‘exotic’ bedding
plants and perennials provide shelter
and sustenance they will show their
gratitude by visiting you. When
‘gardening’ – and by ‘gardening’
I mean cultivating plants from around
the world in a way that we find
uplifting and that ensures the survival
of an ever-enlarging gene pool –
becomes a dirty word, and we are
all expected to leave our patch of
earth to be colonised by only those
species which naturally occur in that
particular environment, our patches of
earth will become poorer, not richer.
Biodiversity on a small scale occurs
only as a result of the intervention of
us humans. I see no reason why we
should apologise for that. Far more
important is our willingness to
employ an organic approach, which
is hospitable to those creatures – and
plants – that will find our patch of earth
to their liking. We can then work hand
in hand with nature in creating a garden
that plays its part in brightening our
lives and ensuring the survival of
wildlife. There will still be the weather
to contend with, but then gardeners
have always loved a challenge.

November 2022

PHOTO: JASON INGRAM. ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS MADDEN ILLUSTRATION

As climate crisis fills the news, gardeners should be optimistic
about the small ways they can make a big difference, says Alan

The RHS Portico

Made with Pride in the Cotswolds
If you love your garden, you’ll know it takes time and care to create something truly wonderful.
That’s why we put our faith in traditional joinery techniques such as mortise
and tenon joints to give our greenhouses strength and integrity.
Using only the highest quality Western Red Cedar. Handcrafted in our
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No wonder Gabriel Ash are the only timber greenhouses endorsed by the
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For a Free Brochure call 01242 662 926 or visit gabrielash.com
See us at selected independent Garden Centres, RHS Gardens
or our Gloucester showroom.
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