Amateur Gardening

For everyone who loves gardening

Amateur Gardening1 min read
Editor Letter
“The Covid-19 outbreak has given many of the pubic the desire to grow their own food, and interest in renting allotments has skyrocketed. However, this interest has highlighted a 65% decline in allotments available (see Lesley Upton’s report on page
Amateur Gardening1 min read
A Sun-worshipping Daisy
THE African roots of this week’s sun-loving annual daisy are there for all to see when you come to sow them. Although this Dimorphotheca – also known as Osteospermum – will grow happily in even thin soil, they do need a sunny spot to put on their bes
Amateur Gardening2 min readGardening
Planting Autumn Colour
Colour everywhere: See next week’s AG for top tips on how to keep your garden colourful right through summer and into autumn. IN an ideal world a garden contains something to catch the eye all year round, but sometimes things start to drop off when s
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Bird Watch: The kestrel
WITH his grey head and wings, buff underparts with dark streaks, and chestnut back and wings spotted with black, the male kestrel is a most attractive gentleman, but his wife is less colourful – though both have long, black-barred tails. Because of t
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Allotment Land In Decline
Got a story? email [email protected] ALLOTMENT land has declined by 65% from its peak between the 1940s and 1960s to 2016, according to a study by the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield. The most deprived urban areas
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Old Bulbs Out, New Bulbs In
amateurgardening.com Daily blog and news ONE of the most common questions we get at this time of year is: “What do I do with spring bulbs when they die down?” Should you leave them where they are, lift them, cut the leaves or leave them to wither in
Amateur Gardening1 min read
Hornet Alert
BRITISH beekeepers are being asked to watch out for and report Asian hornets, which can wipe out hives and are colonising North France and the Channel Islands. These large insects, up to an inch long, hover under bee hives and pick off the bees as th
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Repot And Rescue
IT is very easy to take one’s eye off the gardening ball at this time of year when everything is going on and there is a temptation to prioritise, say, crops and new plantings. I was caught out by a small bottlebrush tree (Callistemon citrinus) that
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Sow Much More
MANY gardeners are quick to start sowing as soon as spring arrives, although the wiser often leave it a little later. Either way, by now our beds are full, so few consider doing much more sowing right now. Yet space will soon become available as earl
Amateur Gardening5 min read
Focus on… Calabrese
Next week: Focus on raspberries, harvest globe artichokes, dry and store herbs, thwart cabbage whitefly, grow prickly pear CALABRESE, also known as Italian or green broccoli, is an anomaly in the large brassica family, preferring to develop its harve
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Drought And Shade
Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes IT is to be hoped that by the time you read this, we will have had a good rainfall. When writing, the lawn was brown, and even trees wer
Amateur Gardening5 min read
Be Captivated By Perfect Peonies
RIVALLING roses in the romance stakes, peonies are a popular choice for bridal bouquets. But you don’t just see them at weddings. These captivating plants marry gorgeous looks with a constitution so tough it’s not unheard of to come across a clump of
Amateur Gardening1 min read
Growing Guidelines
Herbaceous border peonies thrive in a sunny spot in fertile soil with good drainage, and will appreciate being given extra water during dry seasons. They dislike acid conditions, will grow well on clay but hate waterlogged soil. Many of the old Victo
Amateur Gardening5 min read
Get Colour For Months With Repeat-flowering Roses
THERE are roses… and then there are roses! A couple of centuries ago, when these summer charmers first became the must-have plants for any self-respecting British garden, most roses were ‘once-flowering’, making an appearance solely in June/July, wit
Amateur Gardening3 min read
Blackberry Way
amateurgardening.com Daily blog and news WE’RE all foragers when it comes to blackberries. There’s nothing like cooking the juicy berries with apple or, better still, eating them fresh from the bush. I picked blackberries with my grandmother and now
Amateur Gardening6 min read
Ask John Negus
John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week Contact John Negus by email address below Email: [email protected] Q What should I do with the spring bulbs I lifted to make room for summer bedding? They have been dri
Amateur Gardening4 min read
A Beginner’s Guide To Edible Flowers
IMAGINE an afternoon treat of pale green garden tea, served from a glass teapot filled with snippings of herbs, thyme flowers and rose petals. Or a tumbler of elderflower cordial, made from creamy-white blossom gathered in early June. How about a pla
Amateur Gardening5 min read
A Gardener’s Miscellany
This week it’s: Brilliant blooms that will brighten any garden THE poppies in my garden are some of my most eagerly awaited plants. Each year, around early June, the buds of the annual and perennial poppies (members of the Papaver genus) are fat and
Amateur Gardening1 min read
Crossword
1 The subjects of this week’s Miscellany! (7) 6 This runner is a South African Budd! (4) 7 Skilful, becoming edible after ‘veget’! (4) 8 Everyone, as in an allotment! (3) 9 In parsley there is a number of strokes required to complete a hole in golf!
Amateur Gardening1 min read
Word Search
This word search comprises words associated with poppies. They are listed below, and in the grid they may be read across, backwards, up, down or diagonally. Letters may be shared between words. Erroneous or duplicate words may appear in the grid, but
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Ask Anne!
Q We use a lot of parsley in our cooking and aim to produce a good supply year-round. I’ve tried sowing in spring and again in summer, but it doesn’t always germinate and grow well. What are the secrets? Fee Montgomery, Pontefract, West Yorkshire A I
Amateur Gardening4 min read
Greenhouse Shading Ideas
THE protected environment of a greenhouse, which is so important for nurturing plants in winter and spring, can be a problem as the weather warms. Bright sunshine bearing on clear glass is magnified, and inside the greenhouse temperatures rocket on a
Amateur Gardening6 min read
Doubts and Difficulties
These extracts from Amateur Gardening come from issues ranging from 1899 to 1978 136 years of practical advice 1884 The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine 2020 From 6 May 1899 Q Will you kindly inform me whether hysteria grows quickly, and if it is ha
Amateur Gardening4 min read
Wisteria Bonsai
Write to us: Letters, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF (please include your address). Email us: [email protected] IT has been a good year for wisterias this ye
Amateur Gardening2 min read
Blades Of Glory
amateurgardening.com Daily blog and news AS I was once told: ‘The secret to a happy life, Tobias, is to find pleasure in the things you don’t like’. I was working in Germany when my boss gave me this pearl of wisdom, scooping fat from a blocked hotel
Amateur Gardening1 min read
Amateur Gardening
Editor: Garry Coward-Williams Gardening editor: Ruth Hayes Assistant editor: Janey Goulding Art editor: Al Rigger Picture editor and Letters: Wendy Humphries Features: Kathryn Wilson, Lesley Upton Ad manager: Laurence Pierce 07971 605143 Managing dir

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