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Gardeners' Diary Feb/March 2012

Peter Foley21 Dec 2011
You may remember that I started my last article commenting on the ferocious winds we had experienced in our gardens during autumn, and now the start of this New Year has been no exception to that rule either. Some of the fiercest gales for many years tore across the north during the first few days of January coupled with torrential rain and I am sure that almost every garden has suffered in some way or another. We had just started planting some of the new trees in our lower garden on New Year’s Day and after cutting through the top 2-3 inches of turf that was sodden, the ground underneath was quite friable and we were able to plant three young specimens of the lovely Himalayan Birch, Betula utilis var. jacquemontii ‘Doorenbos’. This is an excellent form with a striking whitened trunk, even at a young age in this variety, and has received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Lo and behold, after further heavy overnight rain, they were each sitting in a puddle of water next day so a quick emergency slit trench had to be cut leading away from each planting hole so as to divert the surface water. They will not mind this saturating as they do worry about having their ‘feet wet’ so to speak, but in early March I will cut them back, almost stooling them, in order to encourage lots of lovely brightly coloured new shoots in order to provide a lovely display of the bare stems next winter. This is something that you want to undertake in alternate years and it ensures that the growth is always young and brightly coloured, not becoming old and congested with the characteristic muddy brown stems and only short new shoots of red or yellow at the top of tired-looking bushes.
After staking the birch we had secured them with an adjustable plastic tree tie nailed to the stake, this being on the windward side of the plant so as the growth is blown away from the stake in a storm. When using any of these forms of ties it is always essential that after a year or two you regularly check them for stem expansion so as they can be adjusted to give more room for the trunk to expand further and not cause a growth constriction and damage to the stem. It is really distressing when you see good trees damaged through lack of proper attention following planting.
After experiencing any wild weather it is always wise to check on young planted trees and shrubs to check that they have not been blown loose in the soil and gently firm in again with the heel of your boot. Check that all ties are firmly in place and also that no loosened garden fencing or garden structures have caused damage to plants. Remove these misplaced branches with a sharp saw, or garden loppers with the lighter growth, and it will give the plant a better shape for the coming years. When pruning branches above your head height, then use a backward cutting pruning saw that can also be attached to an arm so as to make the task much easier with less effort. There is nothing worse than trying to exert forward pressure above your own height and it is also not very effective with cutting progress either. For larger wounds treat the cut surface with a fungicidal paint, detailed in the last issue.
Now with everything appearing to be starting into growth and flower much earlier this season then it is certainly time enough to think about dividing and propagating perennial plants from your borders. After the last two winters when we have experienced a total shutdown in our gardens, this year is the exact opposite. We have had primroses and polyanthus flowering all winter, spring-flowering shrubs showing off early flowers in mid-winter and many bulbs appearing through ground a good month early. When you read books and gardening articles it often mentions dividing and replanting herbaceous perennials during autumn but you often find that the author is from the south, whereas up north it is far wiser to wait until early March when the soil is warming up and there is less cold, sleety rain falling from the skies. Therefore the newly divided plants are replanted into much better conditions than having to sit though a cold, wet winter with no proper root contact into the soil with resultant plant losses occurring.
We are tackling the long border (or Liz’s Border) at the bottom of the garden where the existing border was widened three years ago and a lot of plants hurriedly transplanted into the newly dug frontage extension. So now we are going to move some of the larger plants to the back and vice-versa smaller plants from the front of the old border to the front of the new border, but at the same time divide some of the well established clumps. Pretty well all perennial herbaceous plants appreciate being divided, although there are a few exceptions that hate being disturbed and sulk for some years afterwards. So those that you do not touch are Paeonia, Helleborus, bulbous plants like Trillium and Erythronium, and woody-based silver leaved sub-shrubs such as Artemisia and Santolina. These can just have old foliage removed and a good topdressing of compost and a little organic fertilizer applied in late February so it is washed into the soil before growth starts again. Also if you have variegated leaf forms of plants that propagate from root cuttings such as Phlox paniculata then do not divide, as these will throw up countless new shoots, all green-leaved. If you want to propagate these true to type, then take some cuttings of new growth in spring with a sharp knife, 3-4 inches long, insert around the edge of a pot, water and place in a propagator or closed cold frame and they will root in about two weeks, for potting during summer and to be planted out in autumn.
With established clumps of perennials, determine beforehand where they are to be replanted if not in their original site and get that prepared in readiness with some good garden compost or well rotted manure incorporated before planting. Spread a groundsheet onto the lawn or path so as to work in a clean and methodical manner and then proceed to lift the clumps. They will often split up as you divide them so clearly label each group of clumps, as many dormant roots look very similar to the untrained eye, especially so if you are dealing with several clumps of the same type of plant but with differing varieties, i.e. Phlox, Asters (Michaelmas Daisies), Crocosmia, etc. You will find that the growth towards the middle of the clumps is less vigorous and poorer rooted, so discard these onto the compost heap and only replant the strong, vigorous divisions from around the outside of the old clump. Before replanting into their new site, always make sure that any perennial weeds are removed at the same time, especially if lodged in between growth in the clumps, and this especially applies to creeping buttercup, couch grass, ground elder, bindweed which can all be teased out in the replanting process and deposited in your local authority’s green recycling bin, not in your compost heap. Always choose an odd number of divisions for replanting and then you avoid having a rectangular-looking clump as a result. Firm each division well into the ground and if we do experience dry weather, as we sometimes can in March, then give a good soaking afterwards from the watering can, plus make sure they have about a handful per square yard of a good organic general fertilizer.
With bulbous plants such as Crocosmia there are two distinctly different types of plant. There are those varieties such as the many types of “Monbretia” which produce many small ‘cormlets’ from the mother corm and there are those of the broader-leaved Crocosmia masonorium types where the new corm stacks up on top of the previous years corms, a bit like insulator cups on an electricity pylon. With the former, break off some of the youngest clumps of corms and replant 2-3 inches deep, but with the latter type break off the top three corms and plant back at least 6 inches deep. This deeper planting ensures that the resultant growth is well supported in the ground and grows erect. You often see these types such as ‘Lucifer’ flopping forward in borders when the plants have been left undisturbed for many years and the youngest corm with the growth tip is only just below the soil surface, giving little support for the flower stem.
In the next edition I will be covering The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and their wildflower meadows, RHS National Gardening Week and previewing Harrogate Flower Show.

Peter Foley of Waddow Lodge Garden can be contacted on 01200 429145 or at peterfoleyhcn@hotmail.co.uk. A full list of Peter’s talks available to garden clubs, social groups etc. can be viewed at www.gardentalks.co.uk Peter Foley of Waddow Lodge Garden can be contacted on 01200 429145 or at peterfoleyhcn@hotmail.co.uk.
A full list of Peter’s talks available to garden clubs, social groups etc. can be viewed at www.gardentalks.co.uk

GardenEvents
February/March 2012

February
5th– Lytham Hall, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, FY8 4LE. “Snowdrop Walks” from 10.30am-4.30pm. See thousands of double and single snowdrops in flower, planted since the 1600’s. Refreshments. Adm. £2.50, children £1. Also 12th, 19th & 26th Feb.

12th – NGS Garden, Weeping Ash, Warrington Road, Glazebury, WA3 5NS (off A580). Thousands of snowdrops in flower in a beautiful plantsman’s garden. 11-4.30pm. Adm. £2, www.bents.co.uk Also 19th & 26th Feb.

13th, 15th and 18th – Thorp Perrow Arboretum, Bedale, North Yorks., DL8 2PR. “Children’s Activity Days” –11am-3pm. No need to book. Tel. 01677 425323.

18th -19th – Hornby Castle Gardens, Hornby, nr. Lancaster, LA2 8LD. Snowdrop Weekend, Plants for sale. 11-4pm. adm. £2.

19th – NGS Garden, Summerdale House, Nook, Lupton, nr. Kendal, Cumbria, LA6 1PE (on A65). Part walled country garden with early bulbs and woodland plants. Plants for sale; soup and teas. 11-5pm. £3.50. Tel. 015395 67210.

22nd – NGS Garden, Austwick Hall, Town Head Lane, Austwick, Settle, LA2 8BS. Wooded hillside Dales garden with Snowdrop Walk.Noon-5pm. £3.50. Tel. 015242 51794.

25th & 26th– The Original Paddington Bear Marmalade Festival, Dalemain, Penrith, Cumbria. 7th year with competitions, demonstrations and displays. Gardens open with snowdrops and aconites in flower. www.marmalade@dalemain.com

29th– Thorp Perrow Arboretum, Bedale, North Yorks., DL8 2PR. “Winter Walk” with the Curator. 1pm. No need to book. Tel. 01677 425323.

March
3rd – RHS Gardens, Harlow Carr, Harrogate, HG3 1QB. “Hedge Laying” covering all the basic skills of this traditional art. Come equipped with strong footwear, waterproofs and gloves.10-4pm. £45 (RHS Mems. £40) To book: 0845 612 1253.

10th-11th – Primrose Bank, Daulby Lane, Kexby, York, YO41 5LH. Hellebores & Spring Flowers Open Weekend. Woodland Garden and Pure Breeds of Poultry. 10am-4pm. Tel. 01759 380220. www.primrosebank.co.uk

28th – Westmorland Horticultural Society, Heaves Hotel, Levens, nr. Kendal, Cumbria, LA8 8EF. “Primulas – A diverse group of plants”, talk by Peter Foley of Waddow Lodge Garden. 7.30pm. Tel. 01539 727237.

Article from Northern Life issue 42 February/March 2012.
To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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Experience Matters!

Wykeham Mature Plants28 Oct 2011
In recent years we have become accustomed to growing plants that would have been considered “far too exotic” for our parent’s gardens. As gardeners, this freedom to be able to paint with a broader palette should be balanced with a sense of place, and the last couple of winters have shown us that “tried and tested” plants were so for a reason. At Wykeham Mature Plants, a nursery well known for its range of specimen trees, shrubs, hedging and conifers, this balance is perfectly achieved by not only stocking a range of large plants grown on the continent, but also by specialising in large plants more sympathetic and familiar to our landscape and, whenever possible, grown on and supplied direct from the nursery in North Yorkshire, which just happens to sit in a frost pocket! Set in the attractive setting of the walled garden at Wykeham Abbey, with well over 100 acres of growing area for both field-grown and container grown stock, as well as sourcing stock from approved suppliers throughout Europe, this nursery is expert in instant effect. Whether it is to provide screening for privacy and security, or to generally enhance your property and its surrounding environment, expert staff offer a personal service and advice to help you achieve your vision.

Instant screening for privacy and security

A professionally executed mature planting scheme can instantly produce a range of desired effects that would otherwise take years to achieve, such as enabling a property to subtly and sympathetically become a part of the surrounding landscape. Mature planting can equally make a statement by adding scale and drama to a contemporary planting scheme. As well as providing the plants themselves, Wykeham Mature Plants also offer full advisory and planting services to both private and commercial clients. These design, supply and planting services help you to tackle anything from individual problem spots to full makeovers, from small domestic gardens to large commercial projects. So why not visit the nursery to speak to one of the experienced, knowledgeable sales staff, or book a site visit to discuss your requirements on-site?

Left: 5-6ft “Instant” Laurel from Wykeham Mature Plants.
Right: 5-6ft Laurel from another nursery

Instant transformation with carefully selected plants to enhance any property.

Set in the Vale of Pickering, the nursery is located on the Dawnay Estate at Wykeham, 7 miles West of Scarborough, clearly signposted from the A170. The container units are situated within the Estate walled gardens adjacent to the main house, and are open Monday to Saturday between 9.30am and 4.30pm (also open 10.00am – 3.00pm on Sundays between March and May, and also during October). For further information, call 01723 862406, email enquiries@wykeham.co.uk or visit www.wykehammatureplants.co.uk or www.instanthedgingandshrubs.co.uk.

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Give your home a stunning new look

Dooly's Furniture13 Oct 2011
Looking to give your home a stunning new look with some super stylish furniture?
Well, you can do it easily and without fuss, and at prices lower than the high street, all at the click of a mouse.
Dooleys Furniture, based at Barnoldswick, Lancashire, is a well established and constantly-growing online shopping store, supplying a vast range of great furniture to customers throughout the UK.
Visit their website www.dooleysfurniture.com to take a look, and you’ll be amazed at the range and variety of styles and makes, and pleasantly surprised at the competitive prices.
Head of the company is John Dooley, who has a family background of furniture and cabinet making and worked in furniture and in information technology before striking out on his own, working from home in Skipton. He began by online retailing of white bedroom furniture , and steadily expanded the range to cover all aspects of home furniture.
Today, John and his small team operate from premises at Ouzledale, Barnoldswick, where friendly and experienced sales staff help customers to save time and money. Customers choose what they want, and the furniture is delivered free to their door throughout the UK.
John says: “These days money is tight, high street retailers are struggling and people are looking for a bargain. We are offering competitive prices and free delivery, which has proved very attractive, and the feedback we get from our customers proves we’ve got it right.”
On the Dooleys Furniture website you’ll find a fantastic range of white furniture , for every room in the house from the bedroom to the home office, with completely unique designs and beautiful pieces that can’t be found elsewhere. For every room in the house you can find something distinctive and stylish...
For the bedroom: beds, dressing tables , wardrobes, chests of drawers, chairs and stools, blanket boxes, chaises longues and mirrors.
For the living room: sofas and chairs, TV stands and hi-fi units, CD and DVD storage.
For the dining room: tables, chairs, dining sets, sideboards, dressers.
For the kitchen: free-standing units, racks and bar stools.
For the hall: tables, hat and coat stands.
For the home office: desks, bookcases, office chairs, printer and filing cabinets. Accessories: wall mirrors, lamps, clocks, jewellery boxes, floor mats and rugs, even mannequins.
Choose the style you want to complement the look of your home. If you prefer the traditional look, Dooleys supply superb oak furniture, including the high-quality Mobel range, or you can choose a crisp clean white finish, high-gloss white, contemporary mirrored furniture or the designer look of Shabby Chic, which has the allure of any time-worn object and can fit into anybody’s home whether it is a small country cottage or a bustling city apartment.
Whether you’re fond of the minimalist look or you’re inspired by urban style, Dooleys Furniture will be happy to help you find the beautiful pieces that turn your house into a home.

Simply browse the website and place your order, or if you would like to find out more about any particular style in the range, contact the helpful team on 0844 800 3968.

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OPEN UP YOUR WORLD

02 Aug 2011
Emerald Glass takes pleasure in introducing you to our new line of 21st century Frameless Glass Curtains.
 Yes, that's right, Frameless Glass Curtains. Can you imagine a wall of glass that has no obstructions with the option to push the glass to one side and enjoy the great outdoors?
With Emerald’s Frameless Glass Curtains you can enjoy your garden, patio, terrace or balcony all year round, shutting out the inclement weather whilst simultaneously enhancing the overall appearance of your property.
With our Glass Curtains the weather is never a problem to you. Their flexible layout, ease of operation and quick options mean you can have maximum use of your existing external floor space whether it snows or shines.
With clean lines, frameless Glass Curtains have no bars to block your view. Their use is endless and flexible.
Glass Curtains can be used in the home or business. If you want to create a contemporary office or extend your home space, Glass Curtains are the revolutionary way forward.
Emerald Glass Curtains have created some amazing spaces for homes and business alike. We take pride in our work and are continually amazed at the possibilities of this product. Take some time to look at Emerald projects and imagine yourself surrounded by an open window yet protected from the elements.

Other advantages of Emerald’s Frameless Glass Curtains:
• Ability to partly open/close sections to suit your requirements.
• Glass curtains withstands winds of up to 186 mph
• Reduces outside noise, dust and dirt
• Minimal maintenance - easy clean application that requires no cleaning products for up to 15 years
• Unique to our system is the option of opening a panel centrally without the necessity of opening the other panels – we call it the ‘flying window.’

If your grand design for your home or business doesn’t offer the opportunity for Frameless Glass Curtains but you’re looking for a great new look, giving extra space and increasing the value of your property, Emerald have the ideal solution.
Emerald offer a first-class choice of all that’s traditional, contemporary and state of the art; internal and external glazing for all settings commercial or domestic, from windows, conservatories and doors to glass domes. Emerald provide a wide range of attached and freestanding structures to enhance homes and commercial properties, including museums, galleries and mosques.
Frameless Emerald Conservatories are leading the way in truly bringing the outdoors indoors and can also be used on grade 1 and 2 listed buildings. Emerald, based at Spearhead Way, Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, pride ourselves on being professional, personable and cost-effective. Our quality products represent superb value and all our installations are guaranteed. Of particular note is the five-year guarantee on all our sealed units and our 48-hour customer care response time.

For more details or a demonstration of our products please contact Emerald Glass on 01535 681525 or go to our website at: www.emeraldglass.co.uk and see the videos of our unique Frameless Glass Curtains. and view the full range of Emerald’s other fantastic products.

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Cherry blossom tree in a vase

By Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks07 Apr 2011
The beauty of nature so delicately stylized in Japanese paintings is the inspiration for this stunning yet simple celebration of spring - an informal, front-facing vase arrangement that looks like a tree in blossom. There are no rules, so the aim is to make it look as natural as possible. Cherry blossom can be quite branched, so you only need a few branches with the blossom still in bud. It works well on the floor of a large, airy hall, white living room, porch, or lobby, and should last for a week. If you have any offcuts, arrange them in a small vase as a scaled-down version of the display.

You will need:
5 cherry blossom branches
bark strips

Other materials • Column vase (61cm/24in high) or a galvanized garden bucket with chicken wire inside.
• Secateurs
• Seagrass, rope, or garden string
Possible substitutions
Magnolia branches in bud (for cherry blossom branches); hessian (for bark strips)

Natural materials
Bark, a useful resource for covering containers and vases, has a wonderful textural quality, as does a natural cord such as seagrass.

How to arrange
1. Treat the branches like woody-stemmed flowers: cut and split the stems and leave them in a bucket of water for an hour before arranging them.
2. Completely cover a heavy-based column vase in strips of bark bought from sustainable sources or a good florist. Bind the bark to the vase with lengths of seagrass secured with a knot. Fill the vase with water.
3. Re-cut and split the stems, taking off about 2.5cm (1in); the more water these branches can draw up, the longer they last. The lengths of the stems should be two or three times the height of the vase to keep the proportions correct.
4. Place one branch in the vase and let it fall naturally at an angle. Arrange another branch so it mirrors the shape of the first branch. Position a third branch in the centre so that it leans forwards slightly to give a three-dimensional effect.
5. Add a few slightly taller branches to balance out the arranged branches; you want to achieve a pleasing mix of branches, blossom, and air in between.

Extract from Flower Arranging by Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks RRP £20 from all good book shops.

Article from issue 37 April/May 2011. To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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Tommy's Tipis

04 Apr 2011
Happiness is cone-shaped for Tommy Thompson. He walks his rounds as postman in Oakworth during the day, but his spare time is filled with making and renting out tipis, the tents that native Americans used to inhabit on the Great Plains.
Those distinctive pointed dwellings that recall movie images of buffalo herds, redskin braves and Custer’s cavalry are making a comeback as a practical alternative to mass-produced tents for holiday campers and open-air festival fans.
And 42-year-old music fan Tommy aims to spread the word about the tipi, which can also be spelled tepee or teepee and isn’t the same as a wigwam, by the way. A tipi is cone-shaped, built with straight poles, while a wigwam is dome-shaped, built over bent lengths of wood.
Tommy first encountered the modern-day tipi at a music festival campsite and was struck by its comfort and practicality, but above all its feeling of magic.
“When you step inside one you feel excited. It’s like being a little kid again,” says Tommy. “When you’re camping in a modern tent it’s practical enough but you don’t feel like staying there for long. In a tipi you could happily stay all day, it’s such a wonderful place to be.”
Tommy, who was raised in Oakworth, studied at Jacob Kramer College of Art, Leeds, to be a tailor so he knows his way around cutting and shaping materials. In one of his first jobs, he used his skills to recreate historical clothes, ranging from Roman uniforms and Druid robes to Victorian gents’ suits, for museums all over the country.
Before he became a postman back in Yorkshire, he was a caterer at festivals, running a vegetarian business called Global Kitchen, so he knows plenty about how festival-going can be made into a better experience for people.
“I’ve gone to festivals for years, but more and more over the last four or five years,” Tommy says. “I’d seen people camping in tipis and yurts and I had a brainwave that I’d start making tipis myself and hiring them out.”
Tommy cleared out the double garage at the home he shares with wife Kirstie and two Hungarian Vizsla dogs in Colne Road, between Oakworth and Oldfield, and made it his workshop. Native tribes such as the Cheyenne and Sioux used to make their tipis from buffalo skins, but Tommy uses heavy canvas from a supplier in Burnley. It’s still historically authentic, though, as some native Americans used canvas traded from the early European settlers.
For a standard-size tipi six metres in diameter at the base, Tommy cuts and stitches the canvas into a huge semi-circle, about the size of a badminton court, and sews on decorative patterns, ready for it to be fastened over a pyramid of 16 straight wooden poles from ‘Christmas tree’ Douglas firs. It takes him the equivalent of ten full days to make one, but because he has to fit them into his spare time it takes him several weeks.
Once erected, the tipi can sleep up to eight people, or if it’s used for a garden party some 20 to 25 people can fit in. A smoke flap at the top lets air flow through and upwards so campers can cook on an open fire inside the tipi without being kippered.
Tommy reckons the attraction of camping in a tipi is appealing to more and more people. “They keep cool in summer, they’re well ventilated and when the weather gets cold they’re nice and warm inside,” he says. “You can you do the cooking inside, and there’s plenty of room for the kids to play.
“When you see about 15 to 20 tipis all together in a field at a camp site, it’s a beautiful sight.”
He hires tipis out privately for people who fancy a camping weekend with a difference. For £400, he’ll deliver the tipi to the chosen site, erect it and take it away afterwards.
He also sells them from £850 for personal use in various colours including ‘rainbow.’
Drawing on the culture of the Middle East, Tommy has also started re-creating Bedouin tents designed to give open-air parties a sheikh-up. And for another novelty idea he makes giant deckchairs.
“Making them is really a one-man job, although Kirstie helps me with the paperwork and the finances,” Tommy says. “I’m not aiming to make a load of money out of my tipis, just enough to help me make a living.”

Interested in a tipi? Contact Tommy, call 07966 392381 or log on to www.campingunderthestars.co.uk

Article from issue 37 April/May 2011. To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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Rhubarb
Plot To Plate - February/March 2011

by Jean Pearson21 Feb 2011
Do the ‘extras’ in Corrie and Emmerdale really say this whilst downing their pints in the Rovers and Woolpack, or is it a thespian myth? It’s a pity that rhubarb has acquired such a jokey image because forced rhubarb is one of the most useful and delicious vegetables around at this time of year. It is a vegetable in spite of the fact that most people use it for dessert dishes. The delicate, tender, long, thin stems of bright pink rhubarb with their contrasting yellow crinkled leaves are a welcome burst of colour in the early grey days of the year.
The famous Rhubarb Triangle, located between Wakefield, Leeds and Pontefract, was once responsible for supplying 90% of the world’s rhubarb. In these quiet, candlelit sheds you really can hear the rhubarb growing! There is a general murmuring and rustling as the new leaves and stalks break through their protective buds.
The plant is a native of Siberia arriving in Britain in the 13th Century and was used mainly as a medicine but the stalks eventually became used as a food. The leaves are poisonous and must never be eaten.
By the end of March the forced rhubarb season will be at an end, but we can still look forward to the lovely darker, thicker and stronger, bright red stems of the garden rhubarb.

Five Things to do with rhubarb

1. Bake it.
Cut into 2 inch pieces and arrange in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with Demerara sugar and a couple of dots of butter. Cover with foil and bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes – keep checking, do not let it turn to mush. Serve with thick custard. Simple and delicious. (This can also be used as an accompaniment to sausage, black pudding or pork chops, without the custard of course.)

2. Make a sharp savoury sauce.
Cook 8oz.chopped rhubarb in a pan with 2 tablespoons of apple or orange juice, 2 tablespoons honey and a pinch of nutmeg until softened. Add 1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with a little water and cook a further 2 minutes until thickened. Serve over roast pork, lamb or any oily fish.

3. Prevent club root.
A rhubarb leaf wrapped around the roots of brassica seedlings before planting will help prevent the dreaded club root disease.

4. Eat raw with sugar.
Try giving the kids a small stick of early forced rhubarb and a small bag of sugar to dip it in. This is what I ate on my walk to school on early spring mornings. (I’m not saying that they will like it, you understand, but my grandma used to say that it was good for me!)

5. Make wine.
This is an excellent idea for garden rhubarb and has kept many an allotment owner happy.

For some delicious rhubarb recipes go to our Food and Drink page

Jobs for February and March

• Dig over the plot and spread compost and add lime where needed.
• Cut all canes of autumn fruiting raspberries down to just above ground level and dress summer raspberry canes with sulphate of potash.
• Make sure that the soil temperature is at least 7 degrees centigrade before sowing anything. To help it warm up, cover with polythene the area for early crops.

From mid February
• Sow: Beetroot (Bolthardy or Early Wonder), Broad bean (Imperial Green Longpod and The Sutton – dwarf.) lettuce, spring onion, early peas and carrots Plant: rhubarb, shallots, garlic (if you haven’t already done so), Jerusalem artichokes and any new fruit bushes or trees.

March onwards
• Sow: tomato seeds, cucumber, courgettes, leeks, Brussels sprouts, spinach, lettuce and salad crops – keep an eye on the weather forecast and be prepared to cover with fleece or move them to a warmer place. Plant: onion sets and potatoes.
• Continue to harvest Brussels sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, kale, cabbages and spring greens, also corn salad and land cress (useful additions to salads which will over-winter in the garden and produce tasty little leaves in spring.)

Article from issue 36 Feb/March 2011. To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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10 Minute Home MOT

08 Oct 2009
The SPAB Ten Minute Home MOT is sponsored by Jewson who will be handing out a free maintenance leaflet in their branches during November. Using binoculars can be helpful!

1 Do you have a chimney? is it leaning? Is there any growth coming from the top? Can you see if there is any mortar missing from the joints? All of these can lead to potential problems.

2 Check your roof covering. If it is covered with tiles or slates, are any slipped or missing? Look out for tile debris and pieces of tile lying on the ground - these can be tell tale signs of problem areas allowing rain to enter and cause rot very quickly.

3 Look at the ridge tiles along the top of your roof. Are they all there? Are there gaps where they join each other - i.e. can you see daylight through the joints? Gaps may indicate a need to repoint the ridge tiles.

4 Check your gutters. Are they leaking at joints? Do they overflow? Are they catching water from the roof or is it running down the wall? Looking at your gutters on a rainy day is by far the best.

5 Behind the gutters are the soffit and fascias and at the end of the roof quite often there are barge boards. If they are made of timber check if they need painting as bare wood rots quickly.

6 Are your rainwater pipes working? Are they cracked? Are they fixed securely? Are they blocked with things like leaves, twigs, tennis balls and even dead birds? Green algae or vegetation on adjacent walls is a common sign that there is a problem.

7 If your windows and doors are made of timber they need painting every three to five years. Is there bare wood especially on the cills and the lower parts of the opening sashes? Regular painting provides protection.

8 Look at the bottom of the rainwater pipes to check the gullies. Have they been regularly cleaned? Are they working properly? If not they can cause dampness where the build up enables water to penetrate a wall and, possibly, cause subsidence.

9 Check all growth against the building especially trees bushes and ivy. Have you removed, cut back and pruned carefully where necessary? These items growing on a wall can also cause dampness and structural damage.

10 If your 10-Minute Home MOT has identified problems consult a builder for specialist advice. Have you checked out your advisor and asked for references?

Article from issue 28 Oct/Nov 09. To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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Alan Titchmarsh

09 Jul 2009
Man of Yorkshire

“I’d like to be remembered for greening things up and making people smile…”

I believe you were born near Ilkley, Yorkshire and now reside in Hampshire, so do you class yourself as a northerner or southerner?
I was born in Ilkley – right on the moor. I class myself as a northerner doing missionary work down south.

Do you think there is a north-south divide?
For some folk, but not for me. I’m happy almost anywhere in Britain, and thanks to my job I’ve been to every single county as well as most of our islands – including Orkney and Shetland. I couldn’t live abroad. I’ve a great fondness for this country and the north-south divide is there, it seems to me, for amusement rather than anything else!

How old were you when you started to develop a real love of gardening?
I was eight or nine. I joined the Wharfedale Naturalists Society (I’m still a member) and started growing things in our back garden in Ilkley. I even built a polythene greenhouse. My grandad had an allotment by the River Wharfe which fired my interest even earlier.

Were your parent’s active gardeners?
My mum loved it but my dad hated it. It wasn’t until after I’d started work as a gardener that he confessed that both his father and his grandfather had been gardeners and made him weed for a penny a bucket. It put him off for life, so he was relieved to hand over the spade. I still have it, and it still bears traces of cement when he used it to mix concrete!

Did you have a happy childhood?
Blissful in the holidays and at weekends, but not at school. I was a late developer academically (come to think of it, I’m still developing) and a bit too sensitive for my own good. The moment I left school I grew both physically and intellectually (I would like to think).

In 1997 you were voted ‘Yorkshire Man of the Year’ – what is your favourite Yorkshire saying?
It was my grandfather’s: ‘Never let it be said that your mother bred a gibber’. In other words, never give up. It has stood me in good stead all my life.

Northern Life’s resident gardener is Peter Foley who I believe you went to college with – he would like to ask you how it feels to be such a heartthrob.
Not the Peter Foley? As to being a heartthrob, that’s for me to know and him to wonder. (I haven’t a clue!)

What is the most challenging garden you have ever worked on?
Probably Nelson Mandela’s garden in South Africa. We did a Ground Force make-over in three days. It was a tricky project but the man himself was simply charming. The quietest most understated charisma I have ever encountered, and a great sense of humour, too.

In the last edition of Northern Life we ran a competition for the North’s best back yard – what top tips could you offer our readers who have limited gardening space?
Take it slowly, keep it simple and use larger numbers of fewer plants for dramatic impact. And most importantly, plant things that will enjoy your soil and conditions, rather than having to fight them.

You’re so busy, so how do you find the time to tend your own garden or do you have a gardener?
I have about 40 acres in total – 38 of which are fields and woodland that we treat as a nature reserve, and around two acres of garden. I have two folk helping me – Sue, who gardens, has been with us for twenty-odd years, and Bill – who does everything brown and grey – only slightly less. I write and broadcast for a living and I garden for pleasure. I’m out there a part of every day when I’m at home writing, but I couldn’t do without them.

You are associated with so many charities is there any in particular that are close to your heart?
I try to do my bit for all of them – there are more than 40 of which I am president or patron – and I feel I can never do enough. I do run a charity of my own which makes grants to primary schools to create gardens and nature areas. We have funded almost 300 of them now. I do feel it’s vital to offer children a feel for the countryside so that they can take care of it in the future – we have a wonderful landscape that deserves to be cherished.

In April, you were appointed as High Sheriff of the Isle of Wight, what does this role entail?
It is mainly ceremonial and involves opening things and attending things and keeping the judges happy. In my case I hope it will raise the profile of an island which I think is greatly undervalued. You should come and have a look – it’s almost as beautiful as Yorkshire! I live partly on the Isle of Wight and it is my way of giving a bit back.

You’ve been married to Alison for 32 years, what is the secret of a happy marriage?
I rather like her. Hopefully she rather likes me.

Grandchildren?
Not yet.

Describe your perfect day?
The morning in my garden, lunch on my boat anchored in a calm bay for the afternoon, early evening in my study with my books and then an evening at the theatre or a small, favourite restaurant with a handful of friends.

What is your favourite northern dish?
It used to be Thirkell’s pork pies in Ilkley (now, alas, no more). Now it is fish and chips.

What are your future plans?
To keep being interested and to grasp opportunities.

How would you like to be remembered?
For greening things up and making people smile.

What flowers would you like at your funeral?
Sweet peas.

What is your favourite place in the north?
Ilkley, of course, and Wharfedale especially around Grassington and Burnsall.

You’re presiding over the Chatsworth Country Fair– a celebration of country life in August – what will be happening there and are you looking forward to it?
It is a fabulous celebration of country life – everything from fly fishing to dog racing and clay pigeon shooting in the most fabulous setting. I love Chatsworth as a house, garden and estate – it really is an earthly paradise – and the current Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, like their predecessors, are really keen to share it. As a result the fair – along with the house and garden – has a keen band of followers who go every year and have a whale of a time – whether it’s watching the variety of events in the arena, walking around the display of vintage cars, or spending a fortune on everything from shepherd’s crooks to waterproof jackets and locally-grown produce. I really do think there is no country fair to beat it and I’m pleased and proud to be its patron.

Interview from issue 21 aug/sept 08. To order this issue go to the Northern Life online store.

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