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June 2007
Newsletter

Vintage Chelsea?

A Victorian Garden for the 21st Century

What's your worst hated outdoor object?

Ethical Food Co's Open Day

Finally...

10 gardening tasks for June

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Buckingham
Garden Centre
Tingewick Road
Buckingham
MK18 4AE

Telephone:
01280 822133

Fax:
01280 815491

www.hedging.co.uk

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Please note that any special offers and prices mentioned may not now be current.

Vintage Chelsea?

Camera! Lights! Action! The wall-to-wall or should that be hedge to hedge coverage to this year's Chelsea Flower Show really does the trick and provides bucketfuls of inspiration as well as the wow factor to the way we see our gardens at this time of the year.

This year's show was, I suspect, pretty controversial with the 600 Days with Bradstone garden designed by Sarah Eberle scooping not only a Gold medal but the Best in Show by the RHS judges. This garden, which looked like a volcanic landscape on the planet Mars, created a vision of what the future holds. The garden belonged to an astronaut on a 600 day tour and the garden dealt with the relationship of man with his environment. Interestingly when it came to what the public like, this garden didn't even feature in the BBC website's People's Award!

At the other end of the scale, Chris Beardshaw's inspired 'Celebrating 100 years of Hidcote Manor Garden' was a real crowd pleaser, collecting alas only a Silver Gilt Medal. This meticulously stage-set three section garden, divided gracefully by superb hornbeam hedges brought wonderful nostalgia, perfect planting amidst formal geometry of one room leading to another. Some 5000 plants were used to create the floral vision, and Hidcote's original designer, Lawrence Johnston, must have been smiling over Chelsea week at Chris Beardshaw's inspired show garden. Best of all, this garden took the prestigious People's Award, so despite not winning RHS Gold, Chris Beardshaw once again proved the judges wrong with people power!

Chelsea each year has trends and certainly the colours purples and reds were evident, especially irises, Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum' and, of course alliums. Stipa grasses were used widely to drift into herbaceous and perennial displays, but how practical this effect would be in the average garden is debatable. Romantic-themed gardens and planting were back big time, which is heartening whereas decking, water features, minimalist planting and industrial styling were definitely low-key.

Many of the gardens featured natural materials, and this year's sustainability criteria given by the RHS certainly featured well across many of the gardens. Reassuring fruit and vegetables played important roles in some of the garden designs, cleverly integrated and beautifully delivered.

As well as the 20 large show gardens, there were plenty of smaller gardens aimed at providing nugget-sized displays we can copy and replicate in our gardens. Here the ingenuity, passion and skill in plantsmanship really do come under scrutiny and this year was one of the best I have seen of all three disciplines.

A Chelsea Flower Show survey revealed climate change is "biggest concern" for gardeners and this was echoed in many of the gardens, hence like last year, no huge ponds or Charlie Dimmock-inspired water features. That said, often you could hear the tinkling of water, which is often just enough to help the local wildlife refuel on their journey. There were few perfectly manicured lawns, yet drought planting was evident, and included plants such as succulent sedums, rockery alpine plantings (making a welcome return) and exotic Mediterranean flora intermingled with perennial planting in gravel gardens.

Of course Chelsea isn't just about gardens, as the huge Floral Pavilion proves a magnet for plant-a-holics who visit the show and these plants were wonderfully and passionately described on the telly by Carol Klein. There was so much, David Austin Roses (Gold Medal), Raymond Evison and his wonderful clematis (Gold), Howard Nurseries and their perennials to name just three and all suppliers to the Garden Centre!

Some 150,000 people visit the show but on Monday, before the Royals arrive, new plants are launched to the press and TV and a galaxy of radio, film and entertainment personalities tread the bark chips to endorse the plants or gardens, or simply admire the displays.

This year celebrates including Joan Collins, Kim Wilde, Joanna Lumley, Rolf Harris, Michael Parkinson and Dragon's Den's businessman Peter Jones to name just a few.

TV gardener and The Sun gardening correspondent Peter Seabrook was 'christened' (again) with the launch of his own introduction, a chance seedling growing in his Essex garden. Verbena 'Seabrook's Lavender' (lavender flower with deeper lilac-purple eyes) is the one to look out for this summer.

At Buckingham Garden Centre we are lucky to source many of our plants from Chelsea suppliers, including Hilliers and Notcutts Nurseries. We'll be highlighting both of these nurseries' 'new additions' in the plant area over the next few months.

"A Victorian Garden for the 21st Century"

Our July 11th talk will be given by Paul Farnell, Head Gardener of Waddesdon Manor, and his talk, 'A Victorian Garden for the 21st Century', should prove interesting as well as educational. You can book your tickets at the Customer Services desk, or call 01280 822133.

What's your worst hated outdoor object?

Ethical Food Co's Open Day

We are very aware that many people are now growing as much of their own fruit and vegetables as possible as they will then know that they are free of chemicals, fresh and full of goodness. However, not everyone can do this and they certainly cannot produce their own meat, fish, butter etc. but it is now possible to source excellent food and have this delivered to your door. Albeit, this may cost a little more but surely this is worthwhile. If you would like to discover more about this come along to the Ethical Food Company's open day on Sunday 24th June - we'll be there with a small display of inspirational plants and happy to talk to you with ideas of 'grow it yourself.'

Finally

We would guess that there may be a few of our readers suffering at the moment from hayfever - a tip of what you could do to try to reduce if not stop this condition occurring again next year. Buy locally produced natural honey and eat at least a teaspoonful every day and by next summer your body should have built up a 'resistance' to high pollen levels.

Thinking of bees and honey brings to mind wasps. We know they are gardeners' friends at the beginning of the season when they consume vast quantities of aphids, but when they start on the plums and other fruit they become less popular. One way to reduce their number is to hang out in the garden a glass wasp trap. These look attractive when the light glistens off them and with a choice of colours there is one for everyone's taste. As they rely on a non-poisonous liquid to attract and drown the wasps they are safe for the environment and young children and at £4.99 or £2.99 they are good value as they can be used year after year. For other unwanted flying bugs don't forget to purchase citronella candles to keep these beasties away.

One final note, if you are visiting our Garden Shop cast a glance at the houseplant stands where you will find a good display of common and more unusual plants. Also worth looking at is a fantastic new range of clothing with well padded waxed coats at £29.99, fleeces at £9.99 and particularly useful in showery weather a foldaway rain jacket which fits into a cover just 8 x 3.5 inches (20 x 8cm)

STOP PRESS! Special offer for July – 5% discount off most log cabins, and we have 2 show greenhouses to sale at fantastic discounts. Please ask for details.

10 gardening tasks for June

VEG PLOT Continuity is the key to good vegetable production - short rows of lettuce, spring onions, radish etc. sown 'little and often' will reap dividends in fresh produce as the summer moves on. Establish those tender vegetables - tomatoes, ridge cucumbers, pumpkins, sweet corn amongst others now the fear of late frosts has passed. Make sure you improve the soil well for these crops - incorporate some good compost from the bin or heap, well-rotted manure or planting compost to help conserve moisture and provide valuable nutrients.

ROSES Check for signs of blackspot, aphids and leaf-rolling sawfly damage. Dead head, remove weeds and water during dry spells. Control weeds to prevent them competing for moisture and nutrients. Keep an eye out for early aphid attacks and deal with them appropriately, either by squashing small colonies, or by using pesticides, such as Roseclear 3 on larger infestations. Soft soap, such as those products containing fatty acids, provide a good organic alternative.

LAWNS Regularly mow lawns to keep them in good shape - removing 'little and often' is the key to a good quality sward. Add grass clippings to the compost heap in thin layers but never overdo it otherwise you'll end up with a smelly green mess! Apply a high nitrogen summer lawn fertiliser if not done last month to encourage a healthy-looking lawn. Remember to move garden furniture and other objects regularly to allow grass to recover and prevent yellow patches.

STRAWBERRIES Developing fruits will need protecting from the soil, especially rain splashes - use mulch mats or landscape fabric cut into squares and position around the clumps to protect them. Apply slug bait in damp weather to provide some control. Remember to position protective netting over your rows if birds prove a problem. Plant some new strawberry varieties, such as Elsanta', Eros', 'Florence', 'Hapil' or 'Pegasus', to help extend the cropping season.

HEDGING Boost newly-planted hedging stock with a feed of Vitax Q4 or a slow-release fertiliser such as Osmocote. Last winter's rains will have leached out valuable plant foods which must be replaced if your plants are to grow healthily this season. Evergreens such as box, laurel, leylandii and yew can be trimmed from June until late summer. Deciduous hedges can also be cut, but often it is best to do them from July onwards as you may not want to cut back any flower at the expense of losing valuable berry colour later on.

BASKETS & POTS Continue planting up your seasonal planters and as we enter early summer, summer colour plants become bigger as pot bedding, ranging from 9cm up to 3-litre tends to replace 6-pack, 12-pack and 24-pack bedding. The benefit is, of course, instant colour and impact. Do check out our range of ready-planted pots at The Potting Bench, where there are plenty of inspirational displays ready to take away or recreate in your own planters.

Must-have selling lines so far this season have been Surfinia and Million Bells petunias, Bacopa (all colours), trailing ivy-leaf pelargoniums and foliage favourites, including helichrysum, nepeta and lysimachia.

ROUTINE Keep a close eye on problem perennial weeds, such as bindweed, couch grass and ground elder as these are best treated as they start to flower. Use a translocated (systemic) weedkiller such as Round Up* and spot treat the offending clumps with a spray. Remember this weedkiller will kill any plant it touches so spray carefully. Choose a still, dry day to spray, and ideally apply in early evening so it dries overnight.

BUG AND DISEASE CONTROL Preventative spraying against mildews, blight and blackspot can really pay dividends if done early enough. Use copper-based fungicides to tackle the likes of potato (and tomato) blight, curl on peaches (in Feburary or at leaf fall) and leaf spots on cane fruits such as raspberries and loganberries.

We have had numerous samples of mildew covered gooseberry fruits so far this season, but Bayer Garden Systhane Fungus Fighter* is the best preventative product available, or you could opt for either Vitax Yellow* or Green Sulphur*.

On the pest front, aphids, capsid bugs, caterpillar, leaf miner, lily beetles and sawfly are causing problems to many ornamental plants, but Provado Ultimate Bug Killer* (ready to use) should tackle these pests and more. This product can also be used on a wide range of food crops, fruits, vegetables and herbs, so it's worth considering, but do check on the packaging for full information.

FLOWERS Stake tall or floppy plants - including delphiniums, lupins and rudbeckias. Plant out summer colour bedding and seed-raised plants, if you have not already done so. Make sure they are well watered in and kept moist during dry weather. Avoid too much feed - steer clear of fast-acting nitrogenous feeds, as it is best to use potash based fertilisers such as Tomorite. This will help develop strong flowers as well as help reduce plant stress if the weather turns hot.

FRUIT Top fruits such as apples and pear may require their fruit clusters thinning to help the development of each fruit. The phenomenon called 'June drop' is the natural shedding in early summer of a proportion of the immature fruits of apple, pear, plum and cherry. Any planned fruit thinning should be carried out immediately after June drop.

Apply sulphate of potash around the base of all fruit trees to help encourage the formation of young fruits, and repeat in early July to help form the flower buds for next year's crops. Continue to tie-in shoots of fan-trained and espalier fruit to keep them tidy and productive.

* Please use pesticides safely. Always follow the instructions before applying.

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