The speaker brought an electron microscope to the meeting and used that to show various pests and diseases projected onto a big screen. Clerodendron and buddleia with misshapen leaves caused by the Peach Potato Aphid, a climbing rose with mildew and aphids and a Peony with Peony Blotch – Controlled by Invigorator. Leaf of a […]
The talk started with showing a few of the colourful plants currently flowering in the garden with the blue of the Dutch Iris which flowers for 4 to 6 weeks and lasts well in water and the Siberian Iris. We had the pink of Gladiolus Byzanteum and the Phlomis Tuberosa and the white of Allium […]
Early conservatories were constructed with three different growing areas for varying plant types and the relevant growing conditions. This may not be practical on the same scale with modern smaller structures but separate areas can be set up. These could consist of spaces for bulb growing, small pot plants such as Hostas and larger pot […]
If the seed is small and black, try using cornflower to sprinkle on the surface before sowing. This will make distribution of the seed much easier, as the seed will be visible. Why not try and grow potatoes using barley straw. This method is relatively simple if you feed the straw weekly with a Potassium […]
Gardening on chalk raises a number of problems for many gardeners. The ground is hungry and lacking in nutrients and has a high PH meaning that acid loving plants won’t grow. Plants have a short root structure and so require more watering with nutrients added to the water rather than using dry feeds. Hydrangeas will […]
In the UK there are 24 species of Bumblebees most of which nest in the ground. There are 225 species of Solitary Bees which don’t nest in colonies. Some of these resemble wasps, some are very small and some are specific to a particular plant e.g. Campanulas. There is only one species of Honey Bee […]
All bulbs require feeding with bonemeal and potash when they are flowering and also when only the leaves remain, in order to build up the bulb for the following year and allow them to naturalise. Allow the leaves to remain for 6 to 8 weeks after flowering. The first to flower are the snowdrops and […]
On a wet and windy morning eleven of us met at Lainston House. This was to be the second visit the gardening club has made here as we came previously on a hot day in June. Steph, the head gardener, met us at the gate from the car park, and the weather was kind a […]
Holme for Gardens has been developed from a dairy farm which was later converted to a fruit farm which shut in 2017. The 15-acre site stands on soil which is acid clay, sand and gravel. The inspiration for the garden came from books, magazines and visits to other gardens. Work on the garden started well […]
Alan has spent almost all his working life in horticulture and now mainly deals with organic and biological controls. Honey Fungus which attacks the roots of many woody and perennial plants is actually edible. It used to be killed by Armatillox which is no longer available but Jeyes Fluid does have some effect. Vine weevil […]
