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Ashburton

It’s time to take out plants that have not performed over the past season and also woody plants that are declining in health.

What grows well for you, asks Alan Trott.

This is because garden is not an object but a process – and as gardeners, we need to say this to ourselves often. Natives have been planted in many gardens and some folk know little about how to manage them with regards to pruning and trimming. Many seem to have little idea how high they will grow and what the roots will do to sewage pipes and water mains.

I have seen plantings of New Zealand beech (Nothofagus fusca) in small sections; this is a tree which towers tall in the forest! Hebes have been planted in many municipal gardens and motorways and they too have a limited life. They look great for a few years but soon start to have dead patches showing, and later the whole plant becomes woody; little can be done to rejuvenate it and then there is only one option and that is to remove them and plant more suitable plants for that area.

Roses are great if properly looked after but they must be pruned well and have a good spraying programme. If left to their own devices they can soon become a disaster.

I see so many old woody specimens in gardens that need removing. Many roses have a lifespan of 15 years and then they need a good look, with the view of replacing them with a newer cultivar.

Roses need a lot of work with regards spraying but some cultivars are diseasehostas free and these are the ones which we should be now planting. We all hate spraying so why grow something that needs constant spraying and pruning?

New plants are just coming into nurseries now as new growth picks up pace.

This, in turn, stirs the blood in the veins of gardeners, and we find ourselves saying, “I must have that!”.

There are some wonderful new plants coming on stream now but you must not be fooled by that beautiful coloured label. There are many new cultivars being released and many are only a slight variation to the earlier cultivar.

Hellebores are a classic as many new cultivars are being developed but the difference in some is really not worth buying. There are many white cultivars, again very similar, but I now only grow named cultivars or seedlings that are outstanding. Do deadhead them regularly as they soon seed around the garden.

Hostas are now becoming very popular in gardens and again, many are very similar, so be very selective. If you have a small garden, buy the smaller ones that are slug-resistant and look good all summer. If you have a larger garden, try some of the bigger-growing ones but again be selective as some can become rather large, such as ‘Empress Wu’ and ‘Blue Angel’. I find it takes up to three years before they show their true type.

It is now a good time to divide your as you can see the new “eyes” appearing. At the same time, feed your hostas with a good long-term fertiliser or perhaps put some sheep manure around them. I find old rotten horse manure and sawdust are wonderful in keeping slugs and snails away, and at the same time they are a good mulch to keep the hosta damp over summer.

Perennials are becoming popular as many have both wonderful flower and foliage, and this is what I always look for.

The are many new cultivars being imported from reputable nurseries in the UK and US. They have all been proven in those countries, showing good disease resistance and flowering ability.

I have used some of them in my garden over the past few seasons and all have been outstanding. Some folk say they are a lot of work, but I find that once perennials are staked, the result is well worth the wait.

Now is also a good time to divide your perennials and only use the outside of the plants and discard the inner portion.

It’s also a good time to get your heat pad into action and put some on the pad that are a little hard to root but be careful to keep the new potted ones in a sheltered spot till after all of the frosts have passed.

So don’t be an impulse buyer when you have your trolley in your hand in the nursery but be selective in your buying. Often, it is good to do some research on the plant and look at some of the reviews online. I find this very helpful.

Finally, remember that for the best results, it is always a case of putting the right plant in the right place. ✤

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2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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