Pot-bound plants can be defined as plants that seem to have run out of growing space and are literally stuck in the mud in their pots. Inexperienced gardeners frequently turn to more experienced ones at this stage and ask how they can restore this favorite plant to good health.

In reality, it is usually a fairly easy problem to solve so don’t get discouraged and read on for some ways to identify a pot-bound plant and more importantly, how to fix it!

What are the signs that a plant is pot-bound?

• You spot some roots growing out of the bottom of the pot.
• Another sign of a pot-bound plant is poor foliage growth, or leaves that have lost their lustre and the whole plant just looks a bit sad.
• The whole plant seems to be bursting out of its pot at the top, with roots starting to form over the soil level but the leaf growth has slowed down. Succulents often give you clues like this. The pot goes very top heavy too and it falls over easily.

You will need to remove the whole plant from the pot so you can take a good look at the roots. Here are some steps to removing the plant from the pot so you do not damage the roots followed by some tips about how to get your plant back to good health.

The first step – remove the pot

Imagine the pot is a very tight, expensive shoe that you need to pull off gently but not damage by pulling it out of shape. Your plant is a living thing and the pot is the shoe!

The first thing to help the process along is to water the plant generously. Then allow the whole pot to stand and soak in a bucket or basin of water (or the sink) for another 45 minutes, to make the exit easy and not traumatic. I usually add some warm water so it does not come as too much of a shock.

• After about 45 minutes, try to gently loosen the soil at the edge of the pot with your finger or a plant label and then holding the stem, turn the whole pot over while carefully supporting the stem. Make sure you take the weight of the plant and that the stem is safe.
• Sometimes the plant just falls out naturally, if you’re lucky! If this happens take a good look at the roots and then carefully place them into the water to rest while you get your tools ready.
• If the pot does not fall out, then gently squeeze the pot at the sides and turn it upside down but support it, so that when the plant falls you can catch it in the palm of your hand. If (like me) you talk to your plants, reassure this one all the way, telling it that it is going to a new home with plenty of rich soil so that it can thrive.

Now the plant is in water, allow it to soak

Leave the plant in tepid water as soon as the plant releases from the pot. Make sure the water is deep enough to cover the whole root ball and that the stem is supported by the edge of the basin or the sink.

• After another 15 minutes, try to ease out some ends of the roots so they hang vertically.
• Don’t rush the process; check every 15 minutes or so and ease the roots out as the water loosens the soil.

Check the roots

Are the roots brown? Are the roots white? Is there a mixture of both colours? Is there a pad of white roots all curled around in the shape of the pot?

• If the roots are white, then breathe a sigh of relief because this means they are still healthy and there is probably no root rot. After removing the pot carefully, leave this plant in the water to settle for another 30-45 minutes and then re-pot it. See how to do this below.
• If the roots are white and growing in the shape of the pot, then you have left it very late to re-pot and that is the next step. Leave them in the water for most of the day if you need to. It will not do any harm. Each time you pass, try to gently ease out the roots. This may take some time and you will find the roots in that circular shape so tease them out slowly but surely and then re-pot.
• If the roots are brown, your plant is in trouble – see root rot below.
• If the roots are both white and brown, there is a still good chance to save some parts of your plant. Brown roots need to be removed but keep the white ones.
• After another 15-30 minutes soaking in water, try to carefully ease out some ends of the roots so they hang vertically not curled in the shape of the original pot. To do this, it is important not to force the roots. Just in the water, rub slowly so that the roots start to separate. Trust that the plant wants to root vertically and help it to do so.
• Next, decide if the plant needs to be separated. The rocket salad plants pictured below were easy to separate because I separated the pot in half, took a clump of roots and laid them flat out on the soil, as pictured. These can now fit nicely into a straight soil row of cut-and-come-again lettuce. I find salad to be very forgiving if the roots are very young and they adapt to being in the ground very quickly by growing very vigorously.
• Succulents and cacti can be separated into smaller plants at this stage too. Try to make sure some root is attached to the offsets. Some leaves can grow new roots easily but this is another article!
• Herbs like mint actually prefer to be re-potted and divided every 3-4 years like this but be careful with some flowering bulbs because some will only flower if their bulb fits right up against the edge of the pot.

Dealing with root rot and how to avoid it

This is exactly what it says – if your roots are rotting, they may smell bad and the roots are brown and slimy. Some parts of the roots may still be white; if so, cut any white roots with some foliage if possible, and use these to re-pot or to make new cuttings.

Good hygiene is essential! Use clean, sterilised secateurs or scissors and then cut away the brown roots and dispose of them. Do not place these in our composting area.

Sterilise the cutters again to avoid spreading root rot to healthy parts of the plant. Then choose white roots with some green foliage, and then wash these newly cut plants and allow these to dry for several hours.

Root Rot Recovery plan:

• Stop overwatering! Allow the plant to dry out completely. It is best to remove the plant from the pot and lay it on some newspaper or cloth in a warm environment, and then test touch it after 24 hours to see if the roots feel dry. Give it another day to fully recover.
• Overwatering is the chief cause of root rot. Plants may not require water every day and still get it. This means the roots get waterlogged. Check the frequency of watering for your plant and stick to it!
• Water the plant adequately. Leave clear instructions for house-sitters who may be tempted to water the plant every day!
• Cut the brown roots off and discard them safely so that the rot does not come into contact with other plants.
• Good drainage. This avoids excess water sitting in the pot so that the roots get a chance to dry out. Many exotic plants prefer to be watered occasionally and then they flower, just like after a downpour in the rainforest. However, they also get a chance to dry out so repeat this with your house plants.
• Take cuttings of favorite plants. Most plants have a limited life. Some seem to last generations like the Jade plant but if you have a particular favourite, then take cuttings or offsets to make sure you have a replacement.

How do I fix the pot-bound plant once it’s out of its old pot?

You need to re-plant or re-pot your plant. This is generally called potting on. You can plant directly into a garden bed if the plant will survive outside or choose a new, bigger pot.

1. Check the size of the existing pot. Usually, I advise a new pot that can allow for the extended roots to grow downwards while adding 10-20 cm soil extra in depth, and the width of the pot should also allow for roots to grow sideways. However, if your plant roots looked fairly healthy, you may just want to change the soil and add a new layer of topsoil but keep a close eye on it.
2. Check the adequate soil for the plant eg succulents and cacti need sandy, poor soil while a house plant may need nutritious soil because it has used up all the goodness in its previous pot.
3. Is the plant one that only flowers in a tight pot? My Amaryllis is like this and for 2 years after re-potting, I never expect a flower until the bulb gets comfy in its new size. Bromeliads are not supposed to be re-potted at all so check the care label of your plant.
4. Add a few pebbles to help drainage. You do not want your pot-bound plant sitting with wet roots now that you know how bad root rot is! Set up a watering system to suit the plant and check for signs in about 1-2 years, depending on the plant.
5. Add a layer of compost to the bottom of the pot. Place your whole plant in the new pot and then add damp compost around the plant to make sure the roots are all covered well. Press the soil down at the top of the pot and keep adding compost until the plant looks settled and secure.
6. Water the plant well. This settles the soil around the roots and it is important to allow the excess to drain away, particularly if this plant is prone to root rot.
7. Keep the re-potted plant in a sheltered position. For a few days, make sure it is not in a draught or a cold spot and when you spot some new green foliage coming, you can put it back into its normal spot.

How to get your plant back to good health.

The most important thing is to become an expert at dealing with your plant. Know the conditions it requires and make sure it gets them. Other points to help include:

• Use sterilised soil and tools, when dealing with any disease.
• Feed the plant only if it needs it. Check its requirements. Some do not need feeding at all. Some need the soil changed annually. Some prefer poor soil. So do not use tomato feed on a cactus! Comfrey feed
• Check for draughts, overheating, the wrong light, or lack of humidity.
• Look for signs of trouble and deal with them. Is there no new foliage? Could that be too much or too little direct sunshine? You need to know which your plant prefers.
• Check for pests – indoor plants get scale insects, aphids and thrips.

Conclusion

You should be confident now that you can check the roots of your plant to see if it is pot-bound, and also that you know how to deal with it if it is. Hopefully, you have learned that you are the best expert your plant can have so enjoy learning how to care for your favourites and keep them healthy!

The post Root Bound Plants: How to Repot & Fix This Common Problem appeared first on GardenBeast.

If you have never heard of Comfrey (Symphytum oficinale), then this article will explain why you should know about this plant if you are a gardener.

Its leaves make a fantastic source of nutrients for hungry plants (like tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, squash, and beans) and the leaves can be dried and crumbled into potting material.

The long, tubular-shaped pink or purple flowers are absolutely adored by bees, wasps, butterflies, and pollinators. In the past, comfrey was eaten as food, often used as animal fodder, and also for medicinal usage.

Read on to discover why your garden should not be without a comfrey plant!.

Types of Comfrey

Comfrey grows wild in the countryside all over Britain and there are over 40 different varieties in countries that stretch from the UK through Europe and as far away as Siberia.

• In the UK, it is sometimes known as English comfrey or common comfrey, to differentiate it from another similar plant known as Russian comfrey. There is another popular allotment variety called “Bocking 14” named after the village where this strain was developed.
• In the US, comfrey was introduced by a settler English family, and it now grows freely in USDA hardiness zones 4-9 in central and southern states.
• There are many wild versions of this plant, with slightly different appearances and all of them are related to the Borage plant, which has blue flowers.

Comfrey flowers tend to come in shades from a delicate creamy pink (UK common comfrey (Symphytum officinale) to a darker shade of lilac and even purple.

Both Russian comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) and the variety known as “Bocking 14” comfrey have purple, drooping flowers with white interiors. This last comfrey was developed by Lawrence D Hills and takes its name from Bocking, the UK village where pioneering work was undertaken on 21 varieties of comfrey in the 1950s. Neither of these plants can be grown from seed, so you will need to purchase some root to grow these types of comfrey in your garden.

Comfrey roots are very special

The reason why comfrey leaves are so rich in nutrients is due to the length of the root of a comfrey plant. It can grow as deep as 2 m (6.5 feet) into the ground and as it grows, it extracts minerals and nutrients, not available to many surface-rooting plants. These are transferred into its leafy green foliage and made available to animals who graze on them, or humans who pick them for use in agriculture. Using the leaves shares these deep nutrients sources with other, hungry shallow-rooted plants.

So why should you grow comfrey? 9 reasons.

1. Comfrey leaves can provide home made fertilizer for fruiting plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc).
2. You can cut the leaves 3-4 times per year to add to compost, the soil, or pots.
3. You can allow a layer of leaves to decompose in large spaces. eg. a sweet corn patch where it will add nutrients over a long period.
4. Bees love the flowers so you will attract many to fertilize all the plants in your growing space.
5. It helps you to avoid chemical fertilizers.
6. It improves soil pH over time.
7. It is a great addition to potted plants.
8. It is easy to divide to make new plants.
9. It is free!

What nutrients do comfrey leaves contain?

When plants grow, you need to nourish the roots, the stem, the leaves, and the flowers and fruit if it occurs. Comfrey leaves, picked and submerged in a bucket of water, will release the following nutrients: potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12.

• Magnesium is essential for seeds to germinate. It is also required to make chlorophyll, the green pigment of plant leaves. Chlorophyll is needed to absorb enough sunlight to make food for the plant in a process called photosynthesis. Without magnesium, leaves begin to drop off your plant, and eventually, the whole plant may die off.
• Potassium is the K in NPK commercial feeds. It aids the plant to make food from sunlight through a process called photosynthesis.
• Phosphorus is important for growth, whether that is healthy roots or flower production, or the ability of the fruit to set and to make seeds. Phosphorus is an essential soil ingredient, often seen as the “health tonic” for vigorous growth. If there is enough in your soil, the plant will be able to withstand harsh winters and grow to its maximum height and spread. Without it, your plant will not reach its full size and the fruit may be smaller.
• Iron also helps the plant to make chlorophyll. Without iron, the leaves look pale.
• Without calcium, the whole plant dies off and the leaves begin to drop off the stem.

How to plant your comfrey root

It’s easier to plant comfrey from a root division or offset. See how to grow from seed below. Wear gloves because the leaves have tiny hairs which can irritate human skin.

• As soon as the spring sunshine warms the soil is the time to plant your comfrey root. Choose a sunny patch if possible and dig a trench at least as long as the root section and slightly deeper. Allow 8 cm (3 in) extra to cover with topsoil. Make sure you remove any large stones as the extensive roots will grow around these.
• Some gardeners like to cover this with a layer of straw and there are rumors that the best way to produce a fantastic comfrey plant from a new root is to water it with urine. I cannot vouch for this method but do let me know if it works for you!
• Comfrey tolerates most soils but it thrives in deep, fertile soil with plenty of organic content. The pH of the soil can be anywhere from 6.5 to 8 but experienced growers recommend a pH between 6 and 7.
• Cover the whole root with earth and water it immediately and every week in the first few months. Do not worry if no leaves show for a few weeks; the roots will be growing. This plant prefers deep soil in full sunlight to thrive but it will happily grow in shade for some part of the day.
• Although comfrey will tolerate some shade, the best foliage comes in a really sunny position and it is the leaves you need for other plants so give it a good position. It will take at least a year before it reaches its full size so do not pick leaves until it is well established.
• It is a perennial, hardy plant in the UK, so you can leave the root in a permanent position in the flower bed over the winter. It looks great in an established flower bed because it is in flower as long as the frost keeps away. Do place a marker of some sort though, because the whole plant dies back and surprises you again the following spring! It spreads quite widely too, so allow a 3 foot square for each plant to allow them to thrive
• I always leave the plant to die back naturally and remove any offsets and re-plant them. In my experience, comfrey roots need to be moved every 3 years, as comfrey takes so much from the soil where it grows. To help with this, you can companion plant with nitrogen-fixing plants like vetches, peas or clovers and move the position of the comfrey every 3-4 years.

How do I make new Comfrey plants?

You can grow common comfrey from seed (see more below) but not the other 2 types discussed. Root division is the answer!

All comfrey roots can simply be divided every 3-4 years to make new plants and then transplant these to a new situation. Do this in late Autumn or spring. Dig up the root as much as you can and then divide it into four sections. You can use a spade or even strong pruning saw to do this.

Cutting comfrey leaves

In its first year, allow the plant to develop and do not cut leaves until the flowers appear. This usually starts in mid-April and continues until the weather gets chilly in the autumn. Allow the bees to pollinate the flowers and enjoy the sound of humming bees. In June or July, you can pick just a few leaves but remember this is a perennial which will last a long time, so start cutting in earnest from its second year. Cut leaves from the base.

1. Make comfrey feed:

I’m not very scientific about quantities but my tomatoes have been thriving on this for years. I recommend picking a handful of comfrey leaves (just as the tomato flowers start to appear) and then I add these to a bucket of water.

You may need to shred the leaves a bit and then use something to weigh the leaves down. Allow them to stew for at least 5-6 days but you can leave this like a stew gently simmering all summer! You can keep adding leaves over a period of time but be warned!

The smell of comfrey feed is best kept far away from your back door. It is not perfumed but it is full of potassium which is fabulous for tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines (eggplant), and squashes and will also help fruit to set and swell.

To use it, you need to dilute this mixture with water so fill up your watering can a quarter full with this mixture (wearing a peg on your nose) and top up with water. It’s not an exact science, but the darker the liquid, the more water you add.

A more precise measure is 1 part feed to 9 parts water. I rarely have measuring jugs at the allotment so I can vouch for my approximations as having no detrimental effect on my plants so far.

2. Make comfrey mulch:

Normally you can pick leaves as you need them, although some gardeners prefer to cut the whole plant back 2 or 3 times a year. Comfrey recovers quickly and grows more leaves. I prefer to grow several rows of comfrey so I just pick leaves from different plants as I need them.

Pick a bunch of leaves and add them directly to the ground as you plant. These leaves will retain moisture as a green layer, act as a decoy layer for slugs and snails and also decompose directly in the soil, making nutrients available for a long time for the growing plant.

3. Add a few leaves to pots as you re-pot plants:

If you have a plant that needs re-potting, then add some dried comfrey leaves to the mix. I usually pick leaves and allow them to dry in the sun, then crumble them into the potting mix and then replace the plant.

4. Add leaves to your compost bin:

Keep harvesting leaves all summer and add these as a green layer in your compost bin. If you have grass cuttings as well, these two will add bulk and nutrients to the compost bin.

How to Grow Comfrey from Seed

Russian comfrey will not grow from seeds so you must start from a piece of the root of the plant. Its flowers are really attractive but you will not get seeds from this plant. Bocking 14 must be grown from a root cutting or division.

Common comfrey seeds need to be kept cold for germination to occur and germination can be extremely slow. Actually, having sown seeds in a bed one year and given up due to the lack of germination, I was amazed when a row of comfrey suddenly appeared a year later after an especially cold winter.

Seeds remain viable for at least a couple of years so be patient! Once you have a healthy plant, you can remove offsets – this often happens by accident and replant them in a new location.

From seed, the only viable UK plants must be from common comfrey. Just place them in a pot of compost, and water and wait.

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• Productive - Comfrey germinates in 14-21 days when soil temps are 60-70°F. Plant 1/4” deep and space 24-30” apart in an area with full sun or partial shade. This variety will grow 3-4’ tall with a spread of 3-4’. This herb will be ready to harvest in 90-115 days, plant in USDA zones 4-9.
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How safe is comfrey as food or medicine?

Comfrey has been used for medicinal purposes and animal fodder all over the world from Europe to Arabia for hundreds of years. Comfrey is safe for animals and some like to graze on fresh comfrey, including pigs, sheep, chickens, and poultry.

However, if the leaves are picked and allowed to wilt slightly then rabbits, cows and horses also like to eat them. A clue to the use of comfrey in health can be seen in its many names.

The Latin word Symphytum can translate as uniting or growing together and the middle English comferi is probably based on the Latin word confervia, which not only means to heal but also means to boil (together), which could refer to the way that a cracked or broken bone could re-knit together.

Traditional medicine used to wrap comfrey leaves around broken bones, like a modern-day bandage, to speed healing. In the past, this plant was known as “knitbone” or “boneset”.

Historically, this plant was used by Pliny the Elder to make a healthy wine tonic and for wound healing. The Romans treated bronchial infections with comfrey, and it was used for wound healing as well as as a herb for cooking.

There are reports of its usage to help gum disease, bruises, arthritis, and gout. It has been used through the ages as food, an astringent, and an anti-inflammatory. In the Middle Ages throughout Europe, comfrey was eaten by humans in salads and the flowers were made into herb oil to soothe bruises However, in the 20th century, some researchers point to internal consumption of comfrey causing liver damage and tumours in experiments with rats.

Therefore in this article, my advice is to use comfrey only for external usage until further reports can verify this information and examines the history of medical usage, and advises some methods to use the plant externally.

Modern-Day uses for Comfrey

• First aid. It is known that the application of a poultice of compress leaves directly to any area where there is heavy bleeding is a fantastic way to stop the flow of blood. As emergency first aid, if you get cut on an allotment or out in the wild, comfrey is useful to recognize. Pick some leaves and wipe away the prickly surface, then just wrap it around the wound to stop bleeding. It can be tied with grass or string or anything available.
• Shoe insoles. The thick leaves offer some blister protection if you are walking and need some padding! Just pick a few leaves and place them strategically between your socks and the shoe to ease blisters.
• As a moisturiser. The leaves feel very thick and if you tear one open, you can see the moisture contained within the leaves. Traditionally, this was processed into an ointment or salve and applied to bruises, painful arthritis conditions, varicose veins, and gout. Nowadays, some doctors do not advise the direct application to the skin in case of absorption of toxic substances.

The post Comfrey Guide: How to Grow & Care for “Symphytum” appeared first on GardenBeast.

The Estate Agent’s term may be “challenging” or “a garden with great potential”. In real terms, this may mean you’ve just bought a house on a hill, a garden in a marsh, or a neglected garden with too much shade or too many stones in the soil.

Perhaps your garden is merely a tiny space on a sunny balcony, which in your dreams is a space the size of a farm? No matter what type of garden space you have, this article will provide you with some suggestions for ways to transform it into a garden of delight.

What are the basic design rules for any garden?

Sunlight

Most plants need light to grow so if you are planning on tomatoes, cucumbers and squash, you need to ensure that these plants have lots of light. Watch your garden and take pictures at different times throughout the week and then think about ways of increasing available light. You may need to trim some bushes (or trees) causing shade or move a fence to allow more light. Having a greenhouse will offer you a longer season too.

Know Your Hardiness Zone

The maximum high and low temperatures affect what you can grow. Is your area prone to frost or does it snow in winter? Are you on a high hill? Is your garden south-facing or north-facing? These are known as plant hardiness zones and are defined by the average low temperature over a 10 year period. This allows you to decide if your plant will survive in your hardiness area or whether it will need protection.

• In the UK, there are 7 H zones as defined by the Royal Horticultural Society. H7 is the coldest, as low as -20C in winter and H1 is plants that can survive in warm winters, which are divided into H1a, H1b and H1c.
• In the US, the USDA zones are based on the lowest temperatures in that area over a 10 year period. This time epriod allows scientists to decide on which plants should survive in which area with good accuracy.

Soil Type

Soil depends on the underlying stone underneath your garden and it can be clay, acid, loam, sandy, silt, peat based and lime or chalky soil. If you are blessed with loam or clay soil, you can grow lots of plants other gardeners cannot. If you live near the coast, you probably have a lot of sand in your soil which aids drainage but does not suit all plants.

You can buy a soil testing kit to check your garden, but an easier way is to look at other gardens in the area. You can change the soil type over a longer period of time by adding manure, homemade compost and other fertilizers.

A Note To Remember 

Topsoil is the most fertile part of your soil so if you remove this layer, make sure to store this topsoil in a place where you can retrieve it easily. It is a good idea to spread topsoil on the top of the growing area, once the work is complete. Deeper soil is not as fertile.

Garden “Issues” To Consider.

Hilly Gardens or Land On a Slope.

The traditional ways to farm on hillsides can be simply putting some sheep out to graze to get rid of the weeds. In your private garden, this may not be an option but there are other ways to achieve some growing space.

• Make steps
  This allows you to access all areas easily but it is hard work and once the steps are in place, you can think about ways to divide it into manageable sections. Steps allow easy access for later work too and provide excellent views of the garden from the top.
• Make terraces
  The Inca perfected this method! The idea is to remove a lot of soil on a slope, to achieve a flat area, which you can then plant up. The Inca dug these into mountainsides in layers, making the patterns visitors see when they visit Macchu Pichu or other parts of Latin America.

They built walls mainly to counter soil erosion during wet weather, but the walls also provided a depth to the soil that allowed it to retain heat, especially at night, when mountain temperatures drop drastically.

The deep flattened terraces had cosy roots as a result and if you adopt this method, you may be able to plant seeds for exotics that would not have survived without this extra protection. The Inca also added small stones for better drainage and you can achieve the same by adding some sand to the mixture in your terraced slope.

• You can plan for several terraces if your garden is on a steep gradient. It may be necessary to structure these terraces using retaining walls to keep everything in place. Another option is to make raised planters with strong edging or the weight of a sleeper to fix everything to the spot. Gabion walls are another option discussed below.
• Have different levels with different priorities. You may decide on a flower border close to the windows in the house and a vegetable plot on a different level. It may be that the younger members of the family want a football or basketball area depending on the space available. So discuss with your household before deciding exactly what you want.
• Make fences to separate different areas. These can be made by weaving pruned tree branches, bamboo or willow.

Too Many Stones

• Gabion walls are perfect if you have too many stones onsite. Just put them in place first and then fill them up with the stones you dig out. For other ways to use excess stones, see more below.
• Collect them up and make a rockery garden. These were very popular in traditional cottage gardens and a very popular way to grow herbs, as the stones could separate the individual herbs from spreading.
• Arrange them in a spiral to start, with stone divisions to make space for individual herbs, as you go.
• Fill in the areas between the stones with the soil you have already dug out from the hilly garden or use homemade compost.
• Use smaller stones to allow good drainage and then cover them with soil.
• Plant in basil, chives, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, thyme and tarragon and water them in well.
• If you want mint, make sure it is confined in a pot before planting. Otherwise, it will spread like crazy all over the other plants.
• In autumn, when the annual herbs die back, top up with some compost and plant them again next spring.

Make colourful stone surrounds for long-term growing plants.

My Brassica patch enjoys a circle of stones because it keeps the weeds down all summer when I am busy planting annuals and picking fruit and veg. Stones suppress weeds, retain moisture and look pretty. If your children like playing with colour, get them to make collections of different colours and shapes and then use them playfully to make decorative garden beds.

Shady Gardens

Use a shady area to make an office or a child’s tree house. Make a playhouse, a sandpit, a basketball net or whatever it is you like to do. Use the shade to keep cool and build playhouses or spaces for deckchairs, so that there are both sunny and shady seats in your garden space. Construct a climbing frame with a swing for the little ones and then plant up the area with shade-loving colours all year round.

Grow shade-loving plants. Early in spring, bulbs will thrive and plant foxgloves and bluebells to look fantastic in May, followed by hostas, ferns, dahlias, hydrangeas, and sedums for colour later in the autumn. Winter colour can come from the leaves of heuchera and cyclamens.

Grow edible plants that enjoy shade at the hottest part of the day like mint, and lemon balm.

If a tree from next door is shading your garden, see more advice below.

Small Garden Space

A very small garden space can be amplified by growing vertically or making a roof garden. Use your windowsills for flower or herb boxes.

Even if your growing space is tiny, you can always extend it by going upwards or re-designing your roof space to accommodate more use for plants, because the sun reaches the top of buildings. Making a roof garden will insulate the building underneath, and if you plant it with greenery and flowers, you are providing food for bees too, like clover and forget-me-nots. Most herbs will survive the thin layer of soil on a roof garden too, so plant tarragon, thyme and herbs that do not need really fertile soil.

For a fantastic display, grow sunflowers! Start them small in pots and place them on the roof of a shed for an amazing display by mid-summer. You may need to fit an automatic watering system, or to build a ladder to water the plants. This can make a great place to sunbathe too but check with your local authority if you need planning permission before you start.

Water

Is there a stream?

Then make a feature, make a pond. Why? Wildlife adores it!

Growing platforms made near running water can be inspired by cultures like the Mexicans, Peruvians and Bolivians. They are famous for chinampas, a type of floating vegetable garden wooden platform, with water all around and underneath the bed.

These platforms were constructed over water but could benefit from it being freely available. Nowadays city tours take tourists to visit chinampas in Mexico City. If you have a stream, try constructing one!

If your water is a pond, then wildlife will adore your garden.

Birds will come to drink, you may also get frogs and toads and then hedgehogs if you’re lucky. You may find your pet cat taking a drink too.

You can grow watercress right through from spring to the autumn for tasty nibbles and for summer colour plant waterlilies, water buttercups and irises.

Trees That Cause A Lot of Shade

Everyone knows that trees help offset carbon but they also benefit both wildlife and us. You can build structures in areas where no plants currently grow eg composting toilets on the ground under a tree, scarecrows, compost bins or leaf mould containers.

Edibles are possible too! You may be able to grow mushrooms if you buy some starter logs and have the space to just let them grow.

FAQs

Is there a law concerning cutting down a neighbour’s tree?

1. If a tree overhangs your property, you can certainly cut back this part without any issue whatsoever. However, you cannot poison the plant nor can you legally trespass on the neighbour’s garden without their permission.
2. It is unlikely that any council will permit a tree to be cut down just because your garden is shaded. There are certain conditions about a tree that blocks a “defined aperture” so if that tree shades your entire bedroom window and denies you light in that room, then you may have cause for complaint.
3. Is the tree “dangerous”? Would it be defined as blocking a public road or path or the entrance to your house? In this case, many councils would decide that it is a nuisance and your neighbour will be advised to prune it at the very least and to cut it back completely in the worst situation.
4. If birds are nesting, then cutting it back will not be permitted. Wait until autumn or winter.

What you can do:

• Prune the tree on your side, and if the tree is still a nuisance to your family or overhangs your car, stops you from entering your property or blocks light through one of your windows, then you can check with the local authority. Some councils will agree this a nuisance and ask the neighbour to chop it back.
• Talk to the neighbour and if you are in a position to offer to pay half the fee of the tree surgeon or to remove the waste for firewood/to recycling facilities if they agree, then a resolution is very likely.

Conclusion

Hopefully you have now gained a new perspective on the challenging garden and found some ways to use your space in a way that suits your household better. Whether you are now growing mushrooms in a shady patch, or your terraced outdoors is all over Insta, I hope these ideas have broadened your ideas to include wildlife and greenery for you and your family to enjoy in all seasons.

Useful websites

• https://www.permaculturenews.org/2020/12/10/ancient-gardening-techniques-from-south-america/
• https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/planting-zones/uk-hardiness-zones.htm
• https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/planting-zones/hardiness-zone-converter.htm
• https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/trials-awards/award-of-garden-merit/rhs-hardiness-rating
• https://www.gardenbenches.com/blog/different-soil-types/

The post How To Tackle Common Garden Problems: From Sunlight to Soil Type appeared first on GardenBeast.

A Parasol mushroom (or even better a clump of them), is a very welcome sight in early Autumn, when I visit the usual haunts where they have grown in the past. These are famous for their shape, resembling a sunshade and their fabulous decoration is said to look like snakeskin, but it changes slightly as they mature.

Its Latin name is Macrolepiota procera, the second part meaning upraised or high and tall, all of which refers to the brown tip of the pointy parasol. You can pick them from August to October all over the UK and in Kent where I live, they may even arrive in November.

A description seems almost unnecessary because this fungus is unmistakable. It has few lookalikes here in the UK, but there are several in the US.

You can spot the creamy white cap from quite a distance away, as its color is very evident against grass or low-growing vegetation.

Read on for help to identify it properly and learn how to cook it too. You may even grow it if you are lucky enough to be offered some mycelium (the underground root part) of this tasty autumnal mushroom.

Where do Parasol Mushrooms Grow Wild?

This mushroom enjoys open sunny areas where humans cut the grass, where animals do it naturally, or in moist, sunny open spaces with rich soil. They grow in clearings in forests, usually near paths worn down by walkers or animals like cows or horses. They can also appear close to rotting wood in gardens, parks, and forests. Dare I suggest even the less cut areas of golf courses?

My first view in the UK, came on a private piece of land, where I was able to gently dig underground and spot the mycelium. All the guidebooks tell you they sprout on unmanured and unimproved grassland. They are reputed to grow among ferns too but I have always found them in sunny areas in many locations all over the country.

The Shaggy Parasol, a close relative, Macrolepieta rhacodes, is also edible but must be cooked. If you are reading this in the US, there is another close relative which may be poisonous – see more below.

How do I identify Parasol mushrooms?

The first thing to note about Parasols is that here in the UK, there are very few mushrooms like them or poisonous ones to mistake them for. The only close one is the Shaggy Parasol, which needs to be cooked but it is edible as well. However, this one may cause 10% of people some indigestion or stomach upsets but these reports are usually about raw mushrooms. Smell it and if it smells bad to you, that is a possible guide but the only surefire way is to cook it and try it.

1. Check the cap. If the mushroom is bigger than an adult hand with similar markings, it is almost certainly a Parasol. Smaller heads expand over time to a maximum of about 30 cm, which is huge for a mushroom so they are not hard to find. The distinctive patterning can look like snakeskin (see pics), although there are over 40 varieties of edible Parasol in Europe, so it may vary slightly. The pointed brown central tip is always visible, prominent and brown. Round and bulbous when young even when the mushroom is up to 20 cm high.Compared to the Shaggy Parasol, the cap is flatter but still has the point.
2. Check the gills. These are found under the cap when you turn the mushroom cap over. These are white, and slightly slimy to the touch. These gills do not feel as soft as a field mushroom, they are very smooth and white. Be careful when cleaning the gills because small slugs just adore being in there.

An important identifier is that the gills do not connect with the stem at all. They feel slightly slimy, and damp and often provide hiding places for small slugs. A forager’s tip I learned is to drop the cap into water for 5 minutes and most creatures will vacate the gills. If you are checking the colour, it should be gleaming white. If the gills look yellow or green, I would check further for the skirt (see below) but be wary.

3. Check the stem. It can be creamy white or bright white and usually the texture has a pattern of mottling or snakeskin. It should also have a moveable white ring, which mushroom foragers call the skirt. This moves up and down freely on the stem, which is a great way to be sure that this is the correct mushroom. When you cut the stem, it is usually hollow inside too.
4. Check the base. The final identifier is the base of the mushroom. It looks slightly bulbous.
5. Check the spore print. The last check if you are still unsure is to take a spore print. Just remove the cap from the stem and lay it down on dark paper with the patterned side facing upwards, like how it grows, and wait for 12 hours for the spores to drop. If it is white, it is fine to eat. If green, do not eat. The spore print is always white from a Parasol, whereas some of the less palatable foreign ones have a yellowish or green print.

The unique shape of Parasols is a giveaway from a distance. If you are lucky, you can spot the creamy white cap miles away and as you get closer, you can see if it is solitary or in a group.

Like all writers about foraging from the wild, I encourage you to check and double-check and not to eat that fungus until you are certain, and you have made the spore print etc. Remember the foraging rules that you only pick just what you need, not the whole crop. Be mindful of pulling them too hard because that can damage the mycelium. Using scissors to cut the stem is ideal.

My second Parasol sighting is this bunch, and you can see young and older parasols in this picture. There are two distinct Parasol bunches. The littlest one (top right) is small but still distinctively a Parasol. The shape is elongated, more than parasol-shaped, but the brown tip and the emerging pattern are a dead giveaway. If this one is left to grow it will expand widthways.

The way the mushrooms are growing in a clump is another good indicator. They like to crowd together in bunches.  This location is not typical, however. This is a neglected area with an old seat I am going to use for something but have never got around to, and there is spinach and rocket happily growing in this patch too.

The closest relative, the Shaggy Parasol, can cause digestion problems and even vomiting, if you consume it raw and if you are susceptible. It must be cooked too and never eaten raw. You do not know if it will not agree with you until you cook it and try it, so that is up to you. However that said, the Parasol mushroom is famous for being the beefsteak of fungi and if your identification is correct, you are in for a culinary treat.

Differences between a Parasol and a Shaggy Parasol

The Shaggy Parasol is a smaller mushroom (5-15 cm) in general, but the cap also has a very scaly pattern with rough edges, giving the mushroom its name. The cap shape looks more like an oval, scalier mushroom than an open Parasol but when young, both mushrooms can look quite similar.  The stem is more brown than cream with a pinker base but the stem is always smooth.

The habitat is also different – the Shaggy Parasol prefers shadier corners than the Parasol and you can often find it in neglected pine or conifer forests.  The true Parasol is its more glamorous, edible cousin and flaunts its gorgeous cap with distinctive patterning in sunny and grassland locations, often right on the edge of cultivated land.

The poisonous False Parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) is not known in the UK apart from a few examples found inside tropical greenhouse locations, not in the open countryside. This one is very common in the US so look for advice on local websites.

When and How to Harvest Parasol Mushrooms

Seek permission first if you spot one on private land. It is illegal in the UK to pick plants or fungi from forests or wild areas without permission. If it grows in your garden, you are free to harvest it whenever they appear! This is from early September (maybe August if it has been particularly wet) and can continue until October-November. Do not pick all of them and do not pull them out. You are likely to get several from one clump so pick large ones, and come back 3-4 days later to pick again.

Hold the stem in your fingers and cut it using a sharp pair of scissors. Pick carefully to encourage the underground mycelium to remain intact. This looks very long and stringy and can be moved in large clumps but will need time to settle down.

How to Cook Parasol Mushrooms

This is reputedly the beefsteak of mushrooms and I can vouch for the taste. It is rich and creamy in pate or soup.

Cut the stem away from the cap and lay it down to remove the wildlife! A forager I met advised me to drop the whole cap into a bowl of water to remove the insect and slug life that hides in there. Then remove the cap and drop it onto tissue paper and so will they. This works, but I prefer examining the gills carefully and removing them.

Once that is done, it’s time to cook. You can use Parasols in any recipe that uses mushrooms so they can be fried, cooked in stews, sautéed, or added to a cooked breakfast. Use them fresh for the best flavour.

Richard Maybe suggests sage and onion stuffing, bacon, or sausage meat in “Food for free” so you can be imaginative. Here are some of my vegetarian suggestions.

Fried. Cut the cap in half to serve 2, with some eggs. Using a little oil, fry them gently on both sides for a total of 5-8 minutes to brown gently, and then serve them with eggs and toast. The flavour is wonderful and sesame oil really brings out the taste if you have some handy!

Mushroom soup. Cut the cap into small pieces and add them to a saucepan of milk. Allow the milk to simmer gently for at least 15 minutes, by which time you will be testing to see if they cooked because it smells so good! Add a pinch of salt to taste if you like. Serve with a whirl of cream and warm toast.

Stuffed mushrooms. The bigger caps are large enough to be filled, so use anything you think will complement them. Meat with a strong flavour will overwhelm them in my opinion, so think of subtler tastes like leftover rice, crunchy amaranth, other slices of vegetables such as courgettes, or lentils. The cooking liquid is absorbed by the stuffing and this makes a fabulous meal.

Mushroom pate.  Use 2 complete caps. This is delicious and simple to make. Chop the mushrooms small and cook them in a little oil. If you prefer to use water, then cook them gently for 10 minutes on a low heat and save the liquid to add to the mix when whizzing in a food processor. I like the rough texture so I do not liquidize too much. The gorgeous patterns of the cap can still be seen in this pate when you spread it on bread. Chill and serve cold with salad on slices of toast.

How to grow Parasol Mushrooms

A word of caution here. I am not recommending that people go out into wild forests to dig up patches of land looking for Parasol roots (called mycelium). In fact, this is illegal in the UK. You need to either be the landowner or have permission from them before removing any wild plant from the ground.

So if you stumble across one on your own lawn or a friend’s private land, then yes you can try this method, with permission from the landowner. I recommend taking only one mushroom with some white long thin threads of mycelium and being super careful not to damage the existing area in any way if you intend to try growing them. Try to give them a similar environment to the one you just removed them from.

I was lucky enough to come across a clump of Parasols in a neglected garden and with permission, dug up a pot-sized patch of mycelium with a shovel, to try to grow these edible mushrooms in other places. I put one mushroom intact to grow in a pot of soil from the area. It died back as usual that winter and I forgot all about it. Surprise! Left to itself, it produced a new mushroom the following year so I removed it carefully to a suitable growing environment and my photos are the result.

How to Grow Parasols from Mycelium

The easiest method is to go online and buy some from a reputable grower, which also accurately identifies the mushroom. I found 5 suppliers on eBay who will deliver to the UK, whose source was Lithuania, and another was Germany. Depending on the type they supply, these growers advise sawdust and manure mixed with soil to cultivate the mushrooms and I am sure these work.

My method over the years has been to provide rich soil in a natural sunny environment, with an edge on trodden ground for ease of access. In my case, this is a strimmed edge where I go backwards and forwards with buckets and tools, and keep it tidy during the summer. I do add mulches every year to give the mushrooms some growing power and I think, once established, they are there to stay.

The most important gardening instruction is to do nothing. Cut back overhanging brambles or branches and give it sun. My patch got a leaf mould mulch from a tree growing nearby, and sunshine and rain typical of my area but no digging whatsoever which is what happens in the wild.

After the first heavy rainfall late in the summer, keep your eyes peeled. From early September to November, they appear in clumps in the south of the UK, in Kent.  In other areas, they are common from late August right through to October but in Kent, we may even find a few in November, if the weather is still warm enough.

Conclusion

This guide is primarily for UK readers but if you are resident in the US, check carefully for local foraging information because poisonous lookalikes are common there.

Parasol mushrooms are very easy to identify but make sure you go through all the steps before you consider eating any wild mushroom. If you are not sure, then do not eat. If you would like to try to grow them, find a friend who has them in their garden, or buy some online from a reputable source. You are in for an autumnal treat in your kitchen, so bon appetit!

Sources

• Roger Phillip, Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain and Europe.
• Richard Maybe, Food for Free.
• https://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/
• https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/flora-and-fauna/monthly-mushroom-the-parasol-mushroom-macrolepiota-procera/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota
• US readers https://www.mushroomdiary.co.uk/2010/08/parasol-mushrooms/
• https://permies.com/t/40102/Outdoor-culture-Parasol-Mushroom-Macrolepiota

The post Parasol Mushrooms Guide: How to Grow & Cook “Macrolepiota procera” appeared first on GardenBeast.

Every autumn I stare at the patch of fallen leaves from my trees and think: “Better tidy those up!” However, battles have been raging online and in gardening circles about whether these leaves should be left to rot naturally where they fall or whether it’s better to add them to compost or leaf mould containers. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each of these options.

6 Advantages Of Sweeping Them Up

Visually tidy

Using the rake, the sweeping brush and filling up bags does make for a tidier appearance to the drive, the lawn, the school or office entrance, or wherever they drop.

It’s great exercise

I love a good sunny afternoon when the air is not chilly to sweep leaves. By the time you have done a lawn under a tree or a full driveway, your cheeks will be flushed and you have probably chatted to a few of the neighbours too.

It’s better for your lawn

Lawn experts claim any fallen leaves will cause damage to the perfect lawn by depriving it of light at the latter end of the year. Think of golf courses and the work they do to maintain the lawns by removing every last leaf. It is also true that by removing the leaves you prevent any lurking fungus and you allow the grass lots of light and air to store up for the winter. All this raking of leaves should give you a perfect lawn next spring too so you have a feel-good factor here.

Vine weevils

Vine weevils lurk undercover and overwinter in leaf mould from vines so if you do not clear these away, next year’s vine roots are not going to be happy. This is part of a healthy clean-up of the garden routine every autumn if you grow grapes. You can just move the lot to the compost heap where everything will eventually rot down.

Leaves are an accident risk

If not collected from public paths and school areas, I think leaves are an accident risk. If you do not tidy them up, wet leaves become very slippery, and even more so when the frost or snow settles on them. Small children may not mind them, but older people and anybody with a disability and in a wheelchair (or using walking aids) are saying loudly: sweep them up! Online forums have regular questions about whether it is the person who owns the tree that should be sweeping up all the leaves. The legal side is that any leaves on your property are your issue. So if the postie or the delivery driver slips on them, you may be liable for that.

Better relations with neighbours

If your tree hangs over the public path outside your house, many people are not happy with you for leaving them there. This is also one of the main reasons neighbours fall out; the others include a tree shading their window or the dividing wall and who is responsible for this. My advice is that sweeping the leaves is a neighbourly thing to do particularly if they are elderly. If it is your tree and they don’t like them, it’s polite.

6 Disadvantages Of Sweeping Them Up

This is a natural process

Leaves have been falling forever and nature decomposes them gradually to allow the goodness from the leaves to fertilise next year’s growth so it’s best to let them be. The gorgeous colour displays and beautiful patterns formed by trees as they change the colours of their foliage offer us wonderful vistas walking through parks and fields at this time of the year.

Noise Pollution

Leaf blowers are noisy and a neighbourhood nuisance, according to those who value their autumnal gardens for a quiet cuppa. Strimmers ditto, say the folk who prefer nature to be left in peace over the winter. However, lawn experts say that strimming fallen leaves or using the lawn mower on leaves will reduce them to fine particles that can easily be absorbed by the soil, so noise is the only disadvantage here to using machinery to move them.  Another disadvantage is that the blown leaves are not properly disposed of because if they end up in gutters from roads, they will eventually end up in our waterways. Like sludge from farms, they offer even more nitrogen which may stay in a local pond producing algae and even starving fish and local plants of oxygen. Make sure the leaves you “tidy” go into a compost bin or are collected by your council green waste collection so that they go back to the earth as a decomposed soil nutrient not an environmental disaster for the waterways.

Bugs

Lots of helpful creatures shelter in leaf mould, like earthworms, caterpillars, butterflies, slowworms, and some moths. Moving the heap means you disturb these useful creatures or expose them to freezing winter temperatures. Hedgehogs are known to cuddle up in thick leaf drops too and feed off anything in the mix. Overall, nature has given insects and small mammals a warm and nutritious home for winter and you may be upsetting a whole ecosystem if you move them.

Hard Work

It’s hard work that never seems to stop. You can sweep once a day, once a week, or twice a week and you still have leaves all over your garden. So why bother? Another factor is different trees shed their leaves at different times so your raking, strimming, blowing and mowing may continue for months.

No Fun

No leaves for kicking! Who doesn’t remember kicking a bunch of leaves in glee blown by a careful park-keeper when the autumn colours fill the local park? This is a fun activity and should be protected at all costs! This is my cheeky addition because I probably am in favour of moving leaves to leaf mould (see more below) or sweeping them to avoid slipping in frost but I love donning my wellies for a kick of the leaves. In fact, I think autumn is probably my favourite season to visit forests for this reason alone.

Fungus Growing

Fungus grows in leaf mould. For any mushroom collectors, the idea of sweeping up leaves means that you are disturbing their picking grounds. However, I have to say that in kicking the leaves I have been finding lots of mushrooms these last few weeks after all the rain we have had in the UK. My prize in October was the edible parasol below.

These are gorgeous, large mushrooms with an unmistakable pattern on their caps and the way the cup resembles a parasol when viewed from the top. Not to mind that they are delicious too! Lots of other mushrooms can be found in leaf mould particularly if it has been raining.

FAQs

Can I use fallen leaves in a useful way?

Definitely! Leaf mould is a valuable soil additive when planting new seeds or just giving your soil a boost. Some gardeners use them as mulch and spread this around the area where tender plants (like dahlias) are underground to keep the ground warmer but also to add valuable plant matter, which helps to retain moisture and is loved by worms and insects.

Rotting leaves can decompose to a wet, slimy mass of brown in about 6 months so it is important to allow air to circulate as well. To use it in potting soil mixes, it must be dry and crumbly so leave it for 3-6 more months if it is just a wet mass of leaves.

How do I make leaf mould?

My favourite way is to roll chicken wire into a circular shape 2-3 feet wide supported by whatever stakes are available, and just fill this with leaves as they drop on my allotment.

You can also reuse an old compost bag or a large polythene bag to collect leaves. Make a few holes in the end of the bag to help keep it aerated and to allow rainwater to go straight through.

Keep adding leaves as they fall. Store the bag or wire container outside and tamp down the top leaves if it is very full. Worms will soon find the pile if you place it on the soil to start with but I am always amazed how worms find a polythene bag filled with leaves on the concrete close to the front door too. You may be surprised by a frog or two as I have been but this is such a welcome surprise.

Allow it to decompose all winter and by spring, empty the container and you have a fabulous crumbly mix which adds bulk to new pots or a new garden bed.

How do I use leaf mould?

Check the bag or container to make sure the leaves are dry and crumble in your hands. If not, leave them for a few more months.

Crush the dry leaves in your hands, add this to a pot and then mix it with some compost and then add your new seeds. Water well as usual. If you find any earthworms, just move them to the compost bin.

You can also use leaf mould as mulch. Mulches retain moisture, enrich the soil and offer delicate plants some frost resistance. Spread it around fruiting trees late in the autumn where it gradually is absorbed by the soil. It doubles up as a weed suppressant too.

Can I use pine needles in leaf mould?

You can but remember that pine needles are quite acidic so this leaf mould would suit plants that love acid-loving leaf mould. Blueberries are a good example or hydrangea plants. However, it is not really something I use a lot because pine needles seem to take ages to decompose and often after 6 months I just have a burnt brown selection of pine leaves. So you can, but you will need to have acid-loving plants to make it worthwhile.

Conclusion

This is a topic that can have gardeners arguing for both sides and I’m not really sure I have made up my own mind yet but I hope you are more knowledgeable about the pros and cons of sweeping leaves or not. Oh well, let’s get the wellies on and see what happens next time I step onto my leaf-strewn front driveway! Hopefully, you can make some leaf mould at least and do send us any thoughts on the subject too.

Useful websites

• https://www.primrose.co.uk/blog/gardening-landscaping/how-to-deal-with-falling-leaves-2/#:~:text=Why%20do%20you%20need%20to,to%20clear%20away%20the%20leaves.
• https://homeguides.sfgate.com/pros-cons-raking-leaves-77149.html
• Problems With Neighbouring Trees: Action Guide (problemneighbours.co.uk)

The post Fallen Leaves: Should I Sweep or Keep? What You Need to Know appeared first on GardenBeast.

This is a question I get all the time and although many gardeners use these terms interchangeably, there is a difference. Let’s see if we can clarify the two words and decide when to use compost and when mulch would be better. There are definitions for different types of composting systems and mulches and some FAQs answered about problems with composting.

So what’s the difference between compost and mulch?

Compost is decomposed organic matter used as a soil amendment to add nutrients and improve soil structure, while mulch is a layer of organic or inorganic material placed on top of the soil to suppress weeds, retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, and protect plant roots.

What is mulch?

Mulch is a layer placed on top of the soil. It can be a physical membrane (such as plastic, cardboard, horticultural fleece or even stones) used to suppress weeds, to deter insects or pests, or an extra layer placed on the soil to retain moisture in summer. Mulch, like leaf mould, can be layered on to boost soil fertility, as it rots down eventually. In winter, a layer of mulch can keep underground parts of plants cosy and warm, helping to avoid frost damage.

What is compost?

Compost comes in different types, but essentially compost is a method of re-utilising green or brown kitchen and garden waste that is decomposed in the heap by bacteria and insects, to enrich the soil that can be used to grow other vegetables, flowers and trees. Compost is best dug into the soil in small amounts so that its goodness can be utilized by the roots of the plants. Composting annually enriches your soil and fills it with essential nutrients for plant growth like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

Open-air composting systems are known as aerobic, that is they use oxygen to decompose waste.

Anaerobic composting systems exclude oxygen to convert waste into liquid and these are usually used indoors to recycle kitchen waste, dairy and meat products.

Let’s look at all of these in more detail and answer the common questions about composting and mulches.

Types of composting systems

Aerobic composting systems use oxygen to decompose green waste into a soil improver. Think of a circular plastic bin composter, with a lid, where you add different layers like grass clippings, food waste like potato peelings, shredded paper and cardboard or uncooked vegetable waste.

Any outdoor compost heap, placed directly on soil utilizes oxygen so these methods are all known as aerobic. Making compost involves a chemical reaction where bacteria and fungi get to work on the food waste and break it down into different elements and nutrients over time.

4 different types include:

A typical circular purchased plastic bin with a lid and a slot to remove finished compost at the bottom. These are widely available commercially, from garden centres or your local council.

• A homemade compost heap laid on soil, lined with twigs or cardboard can be made from wood pallets, chicken wire, stakes etc.
• Rolling compost makers turn the waste inside using a handle and if you do this regularly, it adds extra oxygen to decrease the time it takes to produce finished compost. These are more expensive but they make compost much quicker due to the extra oxygen provided by the turning. You get quite fit using these too!
• Wormeries are containers filled with waste and also a handful of earthworms who digest the waste on offer, and then excrete their waste. The worms make tunnels in the waste container while they move, giving it plenty of oxygen and their poop adds to the richness of the finished compost. Placed in a container on a balcony, they will provide you with fabulous compost after a few months. Using worms to compost waste is known as vermiculture.
• Aerobic systems normally take several months to complete their cycle.

Anaerobic composting systems

Anaerobic composting systems are used to treat waste that cannot be composted such as cooked meat bones, poultry leftovers, fish bones, and dairy waste products like yoghurt, cheese or cream as well as green kitchen waste, like fruit peelings or orange skins.

Typically, a specialist bin is provided with starter kits that use activators to reduce the food waste to liquids, which also squeeze the waste into a compound section. After 10 days or so, this releases a liquid rich in nutrients derived from the waste collected. Air is completely excluded so this is anaerobic composting.

The end product is not soil but usually a liquid with high nutrient content, which can be diluted to use on indoor plants. The actual waste does not completely transform as it does in your compost heap either. Food content becomes almost pickled, after the fermentation process, and this waste will still need to be disposed of.

Anaerobic systems exclude oxygen and the bacteria prefer conditions to be damp or even wet. So burying the remaining Bokashi bin waste in a trench outdoors and re-covering this with soil or sealing waste in a bin or a polythene bag to exclude air and allow time to work its magic on it.

Bokashi is a Japanese system where a waste bin is used with added bran to activate the waste. It works by the addition of an innoculated bran, that contains bacteria and microbes that can help to convert the waste into liquid.  The waste is added to the bran and then another layer goes on top, so the waste is sandwiched between them and then air is excluded by closing the bin tightly. The whole process takes from 10 to 14 days. Air is excluded by pressing down the waste excluding air, which then converts it into a liquid feed often known as Bokashi tea, but it also leaves the fermented solid waste which you can add to an (aerobic) normal compost heap. Or you can bury it.

Some bin composters use coffee grounds or sawdust instead of this bran, as activators to convert dairy products, cooked meat and fish in a closed-air system by reducing the oxygen content. However, the treated bran helps to control pathogens as cold composting never reaches the sterilisation of pathogens like hot composting does.

Compost trenches can be dug a foot deep with the size of your garden determining the size of the trench. Dig and lift the grass initially in a row, and place it aside to re-use for covering later, and then fill the excavated trench with the fermented waste. The liquid can also be sprinkled in this trench if you like. Then cover it up with the excavated grass clods, turned upside down, to rot into the trench and some extra soil and allow it to settle. Wait for a month or two and then you can plant seeds in the top layer of the trench.

Another popular method of using the fermented waste leftovers from Bokashi bins is to bury them in bags or bins underground, where it will eventually rot down and become useful for your soil. You just need to have some soil to dig a hole large enough for it and to be patient until the waste decomposes and becomes a fertile area for plants. Dig it back up after several months and then spread it on the soil where the air will help to break it down completely, and you can use it as a new patch of garden to plant up.

Now for different types of mulches…

Organic mulches are made from natural materials whereas inorganic mulches are often made of plastic or horticultural fabric. Corrugated iron sheets can be used to mulch an area so be creative!

Barrier membranes

If you want to suppress weeds then a layer of plastic or cardboard can do the trick. Cut up old manure or fertiliser bags or any large packing that arrives at your house. If you use cardboard, make sure there is no printing on the card (as these can leach chemicals into the soil), and then weigh it down with stones. Old blankets are very useful if you want to warm up an area or suppress weeds to make a patch easier to dig.

Make round cardboard collars with a small opening for the stem to put around the stems of brassica plants to deter cabbage root fly.

Cardboard

Cardboard is a good way to recycle waste card to suppress weeds in any area that has been wild for a while. Place the card over a section of weedy ground and secure it down with a few large stones or cover it with grass clippings. This removes light from the area so plants underneath will turn pale or yellow. Leave it for at least a month or over the winter and by spring, you normally have a fine collection of slugs and snails which you can easily relocate to your compost heap when you lift the card. Once the weeds have died back remove them, and dry them before adding them to compost then you can dig the area thoroughly.

Stones

Stones are useful to surround certain plants because in summer they prevent moisture loss by providing a physical barrier whereas in winter, they retain heat so they keep the roots of overwintering plants warmer. You can buy decorative stones if you like or just use whatever stones you can find in your garden space. If you grow bulbs like dahlias, daffodils or spring bulbs, you can mulch around them after flowering to keep them warm and protected. Stones can also provide a decorative border to remind you that there is something interesting in the ground there. Rake the stones off just before they are meant to flower.

Wood Chips

Made from the bark of trees wood chips are often used as mulch for paths, placed over a layer of horticultural fabric. It makes the environment look organic and works well to make paths but it does make wheelchair access impossible so think about your users before you add a bark path.

Sawdust is another alternative and this is often added to flower beds both to suppress weeds and also to add some organic matter to the soil. It is particularly useful to gardeners whose soil is clay-based as it helps to break up the stiff soil and give it a bit more air.

Leaf mould

Use chicken wire and stakes to make a circular shape and allow the leaves to decompose. This allows air to circulate freely, aiding them to rot down over the winter. The odd rain shower will speed up the whole process too.

Leaves can be collected in autumn and allowed to rot down in a plastic bag, or a chicken-wire collector (pictured). When they rot down several months later, you can crumble the mixture into place over delicate plants. You can add a layer 2-3 inches (5-7 cm) thick. It will not only add to the organic content of the soil but it keeps the soil underneath warmer too in the colder winter months. Worms love leaves and usually overwinter in them, as they provide tasty snacks and a layer of heat. While leaf mould does not count as a fertiliser, it certainly helps with water retention in hot weather and also acts as a soil improver of the structure of the soil overall. If you find any worms as you move it, then add the worms too; their poo will also add to soil fertility too.

Allotments offer gardeners supplies of leaf mould, made from local green waste collections. At my allotment, the supplies are very generous and you can lay it out like this before you decide where you actually want it.

To offer some frost protection, place a thick layer of leaf mould around plants that will remain in the soil over the winter, like spring bulbs or dahlias. Use finished leaf mould as a protector for bulbs. Flowers will often appear earlier with leaf mould because their roots feel warmer.

If you are lucky enough to have lots of leaves, then collect some into bags, and you can add a handful to pots whenever you plant seeds or when adding new soil to larger pots. You can crumble it into flower beds too to condition it.

FAQs

When do I use compost and when should I use mulch?

Maybe you can use both!

The time to use compost is when you want to boost growth in hungry plants like tomatoes, beans, fruit and vegetables. Compost adds nitrogen to the soil along with a healthy does of microbes that are essential in your soil. Dig in compost well, before you plant your seeds but ensure that you are not planting directly into the compost. It is better to mix it with existing soil to add fresh nutrients each year.

Use mulch in the spring if you want the plant to have lots of water in summer because it stops (or slows down) water evaporation. Use mulch to suppress weeds at any stage or season too because the thick layer will stop many of them from reaching the soil surface. Use mulch in the autumn for frost protection and to add some nutrients to the soil as the mulch decomposes.

Why does my compost heap smell?

The main reason for bad smells is that not enough oxygen is making its way into the container. Make sure you cut large pieces of waste into smaller pieces which are easy to decompose. Try to move the compost around when you add new waste.

Some people insert tubes or pipes into the heap mid-way down to enable them to move the waste.

If the texture seems very wet, you can remove the bottom compost and re-load it in the top and try to move it around manually. Make sure you add some brown waste to help it dry out like torn-up recycled paper, cardboard or dry leaves.

If it appears too dry, then add some grass clippings or plenty of vegetable waste. Have a look to see if there are lots of worms at the end and sheltering in the hot lid.

If you have a large heap, try to use a stick to mix it well and add waste in layers so that you have a wet (green) layer with potato peels apple cores, fruit cores or grass clippings etc, followed by a dry (brown) layer, which can consist of shredded paper, dried leaves, crushed eggshells or torn up egg boxes and newspapers. Then add another layer of green waste on top. This mix usually avoids smells.

The last culprit could be a member of your family or a visitor who has added some cooked food or leftover meat to the pile. This causes a different smell to normal compost and it also attracts vermin like rats to the area so do not add cooked food to your compost heap. See more below on what to add and what to exclude.

The question arises what does a good compost heap smell like? It should not smell sour, rank or disgusting. There should be an earthy smell like when you dig soil but placing a heap a bit away from your back door is a good idea if you really do not like the smell. Gardeners like me love to open it up in winter just to get a good sniff of this “black gold”, as it is often known.

Why can’t I add meat to my compost bin?

This rule is only for exterior aerobic compost bins. The reason to avoid cooked food is that it attracts rats and mice by the smell. Once they arrive, it is difficult to get rid of them so this rule is for prevention.

By now, you know that you can add meat, fish, poultry and bones to anaerobic compost indoors as long as you chop it into small portions so it will ferment easily.

Conclusion

By now do you know the difference between compost and mulch? Compost is dug into the ground and mulch usually sits on top is an easy way to remember it. Compost improves the health and fertility of the soil while mulch protects individual plants from moisture loss, weed competition or frost damage.  You are aware of the chemical miracle taking place under the lid of your compost heap and in the Bokashi bin too. Recycling your waste at home is so environmentally friendly and important for the planet so I hope this article encourages you to start a compost heap and use it to boost your plants this summer. If you have any more questions about composting, comment and let me know and I will happily try to answer any issues that may occur.

Useful websites

• https://helpmecompost.com/home-composting/methods/anaerobic-composting/
• https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/indoor-composting/bokashi-composting/
• https://www.planetnatural.com/composting-101/indoor-composting/bokashi-composting/

The post Compost or Mulch? What’s The Difference & Which Should You Use? appeared first on GardenBeast.

If you enjoy foraging, you may have heard of the Universal Edibility Test. This is a way of deciding (in an emergency) if a plant is fit for human consumption. The test was devised by the US military to systematically test a part of a given plant if you are not sure if it is poisonous or not. Read on for details of how to conduct this test on plants you collect.

A Word of Warning

The first thing to say is that this test can be used on any plant you know is edible just to get used to doing it.

That way, you can learn the technique without poisoning yourself. With that said, you need to now separate your chosen plant into its various parts; the leaves, the buds, the flowers, the stem, the roots, the berries, or fruit and then decide how you want to test it.

For example, you may want to try the leaves raw as a salad or you may want to cook the leaves like spinach. Or perhaps you would prefer to try boiling the root or eating the berries raw.

It is really important to test the food slowly, one step at a time to allow any symptoms to show themselves. Wear gloves when picking plants you do not recognise and sensible long-sleeved shirts and trousers for protection so you avoid thorns, stings, and contact with anything poisonous. Are you ready to test?

1. In situ when you first pick the plant, smell it. If it smells awful, this usually tells you not to eat it. The Stinking Lily plant has a poisonous bulb and foragers say it smells vile. Berries that taste bitter are also a guide to them not being good for your insides but let’s leave tasting until later.
2. Cut the plant with a knife to observe the colour of the sap. If it is milky white, this is a sign that the plant is poisonous so discard the sample and any remaining pieces. This is true for almost every plant with white or milky-coloured sap so it is good to know this if you forage regularly. You won’t waste time taking the plant home with you! Remember to carefully wash your knife and disinfect it to remove any leftover poison from the blade.
3. Now here comes the difficult part. Your plant has passed the first 2 tests but next, you need to empty your stomach by fasting for about 8 hours. This will be really difficult if you are out in the wild and have just had an accident but this just ensures that any poisonous reaction comes from the food tasted, not something you ate last night that was after its sell-by date. You can drink water but not tea or coffee or anything except water.
4. The elbow test is the first place you apply the piece of your chosen plant after 8 hours of fasting. Place a portion of leaf, root, or flower on the skin on the inside of your elbow and hold it in place for about 10-15 minutes. Notice if there is any sensation on your skin. Do you feel a sting or a tickling or is it just uncomfortable? If a rash appears or it turns red, this is a definite no for eating and you should discard the plant part immediately. Wash the area abundantly with water and you can safely decide this is poisonous. However, if no rash occurs and you feel quite comfortable with it on your elbow, it is time to move on to the next stage. Drink a full glass of water at this stage because you have not eaten for a while and you need to keep hydrated.
5. The lip test comes next. Your lips are far more sensitive and even if there has been no reaction on the elbow, the lip may show a result when you place a fresh piece of plant material on it. Sometimes poison causes lips to swell very rapidly or you may feel a tingling, even a stinging so if this occurs remove the plant as soon as you feel uncomfortable. If there is no reaction after 10 minutes on your lip, you’re good to move on to the next test.
6. The tongue test. The idea is to leave a fresh piece of plant material on your tongue for 15 minutes. Often there is no way you can stand this long due to the tongue feeling numb, uncomfortable or stinging after just a minute. This is a red flag and it says POISON so remove the plant portion as soon as any discomfort starts and discard it. Quickly rinse your tongue out with water, spit this out, and wait to see if you feel nauseous or if diarrhoea suddenly occurs. Rinse at least twice after an adverse reaction. If you feel sick, make yourself vomit. Rinse with fresh water again! If nothing happened, then you can try the next test. At this stage drink some more water and clean out your mouth.
7. The chew test. You are really hungry by now but it is still not time to eat the plant. You need to bite down hard on the plant, bud, root, or whatever and then chew it for 15 minutes. Do not actually swallow the liquid just allow the saliva to start trying to digest it. This tests if any sensation occurs now. Do not be disappointed but now you have to spit out the chewed plant and then wait for another 8 hours. The advice is that sometimes symptoms develop some hours after this test so if you feel violently ill, you should make yourself vomit and rinse out your mouth. If your 8 hours fast ends and you have not noticed nausea or cramps or gone unconscious, you can conclude after this that the plant can be eaten. Remember to keep drinking water during this time so that you do not become dehydrated (as well as hungry). Finally! 16 hours have passed without eating anything so now you can either eat the plant raw or cook it.
8. Time to cook the plant or eat it raw. Providing there were no adverse reactions, now you can finally try eating this plant. Use a quarter cupful of the part you want to test. So if you chose to cook the root, then prepare it (fry or boil) and eat it. Again eat only this plant for the integrity of the test and then wait for another 8 hours. So you count this as a detox day or poisoning day, depending on the result!  Hopefully, after all that waiting, the plant is delicious and stays in your stomach.

If your plant has passed all the tests and you are alive and breathing, you can safely conclude that the part you tested of this plant is safe to eat, in the way you cooked it. If you want to try another part, you will have to go through the whole process again. Remember that you need to eat something soon though so save the next test for another day!

More help in identifying poisonous plants in the wild

There are 5 common signs that a plant may be poisonous. The best way to decide is positive identification but these signs may help to avoid particular plants.

1. Milky or white sap when you twist or cut a leaf or stem.
2. Yellow and white berries. 85-90% of white or yellow ones are dangerous for consumption. Some green berries can also be poisonous (and there are some red ones too) but statistics show that yellow and white are the most poisonous.
3. An umbel shape to the flowers or seed head. Imagine an umbrella turned upside down and then you know the shape. The flower stems radiate from a central point in the umbel. Carrots have this and they are edible but so does Hemlock, which is incredibly poisonous. Be careful with umbels!
4. If the leaves are dull and green, or glossy green this often indicates poison. Not always but statistically more than non-poisonous.
5. A single leaf, with three leaflets – 3 leaf pattern growth. If one of the leaflets stands upright vertically and the other two in this group of three face left and right, this combination is a good indication of poisonous leaves, Not all leaves like this are dangerous but there are too many that fit the pattern.

Extra help

• A bad smell like rotting or a very bitter smell often indicates the plant is poisonous.
• Many UK flower bulbs are toxic if consumed. This includes daffodils, and irises so keep these away from little hands before planting them.

Some myths dispelled

There are myths that if a plant is safe for an animal to eat, it is also safe for humans. Wrong! Birds can eat ivy berries without a problem but their digestive system can happily manage them. Dogs and cats can chew plants that humans would never dream of touching too. Most of us know never to eat holly, ivy, or mistletoe berries, as these are very toxic.

Another thing that people forget in collecting is that although one part of a plant may be edible, another part of it may be poisonous. Rhubarb leaves are toxic but the pink stem is edible. The leaves are full of oxalic acid which can cause kidney failure. Tomatoes are another plant whose fruit is edible but eating the leaves can certainly give you an upset stomach. The seeds of apples, cherries and apricots all taste bitter and unpleasant and the idea is to deter you from trying to eat them. The taste comes from a chemical called amygdalin which changes to cyanide if digested. It is not enough to kill you but it is probably best not to eat these hard seeds.

Some of the Most Deadly Plants

The main way not to be poisoned while foraging is to identify the plant without a doubt before you put it in your mouth. Join a foraging group where experts can guide you and buy a good guidebook to get you started. Here are 6 of the worst plants to avoid, so you stay safe.

 Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta). These beautiful blue flowers fill our woodland areas and forests in late spring but their bulbs can be mistaken for onions. They contain a substance called glycosides which are poisonous for humans and pets and can also cause rashes on human skin so use gloves when planting them. If eaten, they can be fatal so make sure you get to a hospital as soon as possible in the event of consumption.

Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), has the most beautiful red berries but the name tells you everything. Do not eat them! Symptoms can range from headaches to convulsions and your speech becomes slurred, you may have a skin rash too. All parts of the plant are toxic although opticians use an extract safely (called belladonna) which opens up the pupils of the eye, to examine them.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), has tall spikes of purple flowers with spotted white interiors. They are gorgeous to look at in any garden, adored by bees and pollinators but they are poisonous to touch and can be fatal if swallowed. Wear gloves when handling them, as the poison can transfer to your eyes. Seek medical attention promptly and do not put this plant in your mouth!

Lords-and-Ladies (Arum maculatum), is also known as Cuckoo spit or Cuckoo pint. It has bright orange berries when ripe inside a leaf hood, but they can appear green or red. The colour is a warning. These will kill you! It is common in hedgerows or shady woodland.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) is a plant which has poisonous leaves, flowers, stems and roots. It has been used on poison spears by indigenous people in hunting. Do not touch this one as the poison will transfer from hands to eyes easily. The skin is the point of entry usually so wear gloves. The first symptom will be feeling faint or dizzy followed by an irregular heartbeat. Apparently, it tastes very bitter but this is one I will not be trying! Several species of Aconitumhave been used as arrow or harpoon poisons. You have been warned!

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum) causes respiratory paralysis if you eat it as the plant contains a toxic alkaloid called coniine. It can cause death so if this is eaten accidentally seek urgent medical attention

Conclusion

Foraging is an enjoyable activity out in the fresh air but it is really important to know your plants before you pick them. The UET can determine if an unknown plant is edible but it may poison you in the process. I recommend meeting up with expert foragers to make the most of the experience and pick fresh food without any problems.

Useful websites

• https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/07/uk-poisonous-plants/
• https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2020/04/are-bluebells-poisonous-and-more-bluebell-facts/
• https://modernfarmer.com/2015/08/secretly-poisonous-plants/

The post What is the Universal Edibility Test (UET)? How to Tell if a Plant is Edible appeared first on GardenBeast.

Some grasses add background height and color, as well as drama and movement in a small garden as the wind ripples through them. In larger spaces, I grow edible grasses like barley, wheat, corn and oats in small quantities.

Today’s seed versions are based on centuries of crossing and breeding by our ancient ancestors and nowadays we can enjoy these staple foods as a result.

If you spend a lot of time weeding out natural wild grasses, it is a lot easier to work alongside Mother Nature and allow them some space in your garden design. Some grasses can even be used medicinally. Let’s see what will work for your garden.

 How do I use grasses in my garden design?

Whether it’s for ornamental, edible or medicinal use, grasses can add a very professional and distinctive look to any garden.

• Placed strategically, they can fill gaps after a perennial flower has died back (think of daffodils and tulips) while in all seasons, they provide cheerful colour and interest.
• Many “weeds” make fabulous accompaniments to perennial beds. Some will gently sway in the wind creating a natural Pampas feel, while others are more structural and can be used as climbers by other annual flowers.
• Seed heads from wild grasses provide winter food for the birds and many species of butterflies and moths lay eggs on native grasses so you will be supporting insect health as well as saving on weeding time.

Let’s look at some grasses suitable for the UK garden.

Edible Grasses to Grow

My allotment is absolutely full of edible grasses like oats, sweetcorn and even a small patch of barley. Seen on a windy day, these plants ripple with a wave-like movement and it is wonderful to watch with a cuppa late in the evening.

1. Barley and Wheat

I used to sow a few rows of barley and wheat seeds in spring, mainly to feed my chickens. I learned that an autumn seeding of barley is also useful because it can tolerate the cold and ensures that your precious topsoil is not blown away in high winds. These two grasses are difficult to tell apart and I do not claim to be an expert! See more on how to identify them below.

These are beautiful crops to watch growing. If sown in the autumn, as they germinate little spikes of green appear in rows and then grow taller and after a few months, it is as if the soil has entirely disappeared and a sea of green is growing.

You won’t be feeding your family on the amount of grain that results and of course, I harvest the barley grains for chickens to eat but the remaining dried barley stalks and leaves (known as chaff) get a second life in my garden too.

Among pond owners, it is a well-known secret that adding a small net stuffed full with barley chaff keeps our ponds free of pondweed like spirulina. Seen in windy conditions, these plants ripple with a wave-like movement and it is wonderful to watch as you pass by doing other jobs or with a cuppa late in the evening.

Is it Barley or Wheat?

Both barley and wheat stems are topped with a sheaf of grain, on top of which grows a long set of straight, grassy trailing stems, which is known as a beard. However, barley spikes are known to bend in the direction of the wind, whereas wheat spikes tend to remain more upright in windy conditions.

Barley has these trailing grasses coming from the top of the grain and wheat has horizontal grass growing out from the grain sheaf. The colour is another clue. Wheat tends to be whiter when ripe, that image we all have of ripe grain on the bread packaging,  while barley is a yellowy colour when ripe.

How do we use Barley and Wheat?

Barley is processed into malt for alcoholic beverages (eg beer and whiskey), it is given to animals for winter feed and it is eaten in many countries as a grain.

Wheat is a staple grain food all over the world and it is usually milled for bread; wholegrain flour keeps the external husk while plain flour removes the husk.

Wholegrain flour is more nutritious and is full of fibre but humanity seems to prefer processed white wheat more for bread, pastries and cakes. A specialised Durum wheat is also used to make pasta.

2. Oats

These are tall grasses if grown ornamentally, which fade to a creamy-white colour in late autumn and add a beautiful background right through the winter. They can be troublesome to process and once the husk is removed, they also need to be pounded.

As I was expecting to fill my saved porridge bags full to bursting, I must admit to being slightly disappointed when I first processed my batch of oats! Oats have quite a small seed head, but I am informed that larger seed heads can be grown here in the UK so it is a matter of planting the right seeds.

Although troublesome to process, freshly grown oats are gorgeous to eat (see more below), and their seed heads are so pretty and delicate, that they always have a site somewhere in my garden and my allotment. These organic oats self-seed around my allotment quite happily. This year, they found some ground in front of my blackberries!

3. Sweetcorn

Also known as maize by the farming community, corn is next on my list both for its sculptural qualities in the field and its amazing taste. Farmers grow fields of maize as animal feed but for me, sweetcorn provides fresh tasty cobs from late August through to the end of September and I also freeze some for winter use.

It is essential to save at least 2 healthy cobs for next year’s seeds and because these are organic seeds to start with, I can be confident they will be the same the following year.

It’s not just the taste I love about corn though! I have to admit that it is the whole block of corn moving artistically in the wind that I love. The lower layers are bright green and the cobs hang to the side while the almost bamboo-like stem sway in any gust of wind.

Birds hop from one to the next feeding on insects, so it is a gorgeous, constantly moving crop to observe. As they age, the tips turn almost white while the green stems remain that verdant shade until cut.

• You need to plant seeds in squares to aid pollination and these are not frost hardy so try to warm up the earth beforehand by laying a covering over the whole patch in winter.
• Make sure the soil is rich. Add manure to this square in the autumn or about a month before you plant seeds.
• Water corn frequently when you have just planted and at least twice weekly in summer, and daily in a heatwave if you can.
• In an urban garden, if you have the space, they add interest in each season and you can interplant them with squashes and pumpkins and also beans, which happily climb the growing stalks of the corn. The beans add nitrogen to the soil, which the corn will lap up greedily so your corn cobs will be full and juicy.

This year, I planned layers of successively taller vegetation. At the front, rhubarb and salads with herbs like fennel. Behind these, the sweetcorn grew all summer with pumpkins interplanted and in the distance, the cherry tree added distinctive green foliage to complement the ripening corn.

4. Bamboo

Of the 1,462 varieties of bamboo that grow all over this planet, there are hardy bamboo varieties that can be grown in the UK for their edible bamboo shoots, which everybody recognises from Chinese cuisine. Bamboo enjoys sunny, damp climates but like the tropical rainforest where it originates, it prefers the soil to have good drainage so that its roots are not sitting in wet soil.

• For UK growers, the rain supplies are usually no problem but in a heatwave, you may need to water the bamboo well. Touch the soil if it looks dry and then water it generously.
• Hardy bamboo in snowy countries like Korea and China is reported to survive as low as −29 °C (−20 °F) so yours should be content in a typical UK winter with no fear of drought either! Less hardy bamboo will not survive outdoor UK winters so you will need to move them indoors or cover them with fleece or protection.
• Bamboo grows really fast, up to several inches per day and reputedly some varieties grow that in an hour! So if you want to make a living selling gardening supplies, bamboo is certainly a good choice. You can cut canes at regular intervals and store them until you sell them.
• Bamboo is notoriously invasive too and any pot you grow it in needs to be made of concrete!! I say this because I saw bamboo emerging from concrete paths in courtyards in Brazil and Argentina.
• The upside of bamboo is how beautiful it is and how calming a bamboo forest can be, even if it is just one corner of your patio with a bamboo plant situated in it. The wind whispers through the leaves in a very distinctive way too.

A final point about bamboo is its carbon sequestration ability. It is being trialled in Africa as a method of growing a crop in poor soil, in order to avoid soil erosion.

It becomes a crop that can be harvested for food, used for building and paper supplies but also counted as a method to save carbon being released.

It may help poor areas to reclaim some land for agricultural use when the bamboo crop finishes its cycle. It tends to have a maximum 25-year cycle, after which the remaining canes often burst into flame, leaving a layer of useful ash on the ground to nourish the next crop. Humans can use this to grow food while the bamboo re-grows.

How do I harvest and use Oats, Barley and Corn at home?

Oats

Oats can be troublesome to process is the first thing to say!

1. First, you need to remove the outside leaves or husk.
2. Then roll them with a rolling pin to soften them up.
3. After this, put them into a mortar and pestle to thump them into a substance like porridge.

Barley

Barley grain for eating can be picked from the sheaf, then added fresh to soups and casseroles or dried and stored in jars. It will keep for about 3-6 months if not opened too much.

Check for any going mouldy and remove them. An old wives tale insists that barley water is good for kidney infections and nutritionally it is a healthy grain to eat cooked like rice.

For malting, you can visit some brewing websites for advice or just be lazy and buy some!

Corn

Keep checking the cob for how full it feels protected under leaves.

• When the green hair hanging out the top of the cob turns from green to brown, this is a sign the corn may be ripe.
• Open the top part of the leaves and. If it looks yellow, move on to the next step. Otherwise, wait a few days to check the colour again.
• Gently press a fingernail into the growing corn cob. If the liquid released looks milky, this is the perfect time to pick your corn.
• Twist the base of the cob away from the stem. Usually, they release easily when fully ripe.
• Eat them fresh, or blanch them briefly in boiling water, and freeze immediately.

Cook corn on the barbecue, or plunge it into boiling water for a few minutes and turn it once to ensure the cobs on both sides are cooked. For a treat, add a few knobs of butter and you’re in heaven!

Sweetcorn soup uses fresh corn and any stock you can find in your freezer, add a few sage or thyme leaves, and then whizz the whole mixture to a smooth consistency.

Decorative and ornamental grasses for color, patterns and moving foliage.

From food to ornamentals, you can see some of my favourites pictured. I include bamboo again for its wonderful canes and also the seed heads of Pennisetum, the flashy red foliage of Uncinia Everflame, the yellow and green patterned Miscanthus, and Pampas grass.

None of these are native to the UK but my local gardening centre, Elm Court, has so many colourful grasses I cannot fail to be tempted! You can allow native grasses some space amongst these beauties too.

Wildlife such as butterflies and moths lay eggs on many wild grasses, so they add to the overall environmental quality of your space too.

With careful planning, you can add taller grasses to the background and shorter ones at the front of a border. Some of these also add a “touch” factor, in particular the Pennisetum, which comes in various varieties but all have that cheeky velvety-soft seed head.

Miscanthus has paler blocks of colour on each stem adding a distinctive, sunny feel to your flower bed.

Bamboo needs some additional notes! I saw bamboo in abundance when I travelled in Latin America and Brazil, bamboo is used for everything from furniture to building materials and its rapid rate of growth means it is a sustainable paper and a wood substitute.

Some hardy bamboo varieties will thrive here in the UK but I will add a word of warning. Bamboo is the fastest growing grass on the planet and some grow as you watch so make sure you keep it contained indoors or out!

Many grasses die back in the winter and appear again in spring so planted with winter bulbs, these will add colour just as the grape hyacinths, snowdrops and crocus finish. Some may need winter protection so check the label carefully and then lay fleece or mulch for winter protection.

Medicinal plants and grasses

Plantain and Couch grass  are traditionally seen as weeds, a curse in UK lawns and they often grow side by side, but Plantain seed heads are adored by the birds for winter food and its crushed leaves have been used medicinally for centuries to ease inflammation. You can also eat them as a vegetable, cooked like spinach or chard.

Couch grass has spreading roots which is why gardeners dread it but the roots contain substances helpful for a tincture or tea to ease sore throats, and also to aid the kidneys when water retention or kidney stones is the problem. Dig up the roots and process them or buy the tincture in your local health food shop.

Oats are often made into a tincture and used for many medical conditions.

Barley water, when the grain is boiled with water and sweetened, is given to those with urinary infections, bladder problems or cystitis to ease the pain.

Bulrushes (Cattails in the US), long reeds growing in river beds and ponds with a long seed head, have been used for centuries both as food, or as emergency first aid. A section of the roots was applied to a bleeding cut to stop the flow and because it proved to be antiseptic. The fluff is reported to help soothe burns too. Not to mind that the roots, the young green shoots, the stalks, the flower and the seed head are all edible.

Conclusion

The grasses that our ancestors tended have given us a legacy of grain heads that can be eaten, admired and used as medicine. Now is the time to look carefully at the grasses you have in your garden with a new eye. Consider using them in your flower bed designs to brighten your view with whispering seed heads, provide your household with some food and maybe use to soothe a cut.

 Useful Websites

1. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1490/couch-grass
2. https://copeseeds.co.uk/products/oats/
3. https://eattheplanet.org/redroot-pigweed-a-humble-and-underrated-wild-edible/
4. https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/opinion-red-amaranth-superfood-and-showpiece-1553243685940.html
5. https://farmandanimals.com/wheat-vs-barley/
6. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1490/couch-grass
7. https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/grasse34.html
8. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/can-you-eat-cattails

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In this gorgeous mid-summer weather, it is wonderful to admire the successful rows of plants you seeded in spring and just water and weed where necessary.

Over the years, I have learned some tricks to beat the colder nights of autumn and winter approaching and late in the winter, I try to gain a few extra weeks by sowing seeds earlier so they are ready to be planted outside, as soon as the last frost is gone in spring.

Everything depends on your available space, the light available for plants, the soil temperature, how well your plants can adapt to colder weather, and what you can do to cover them up.

You may need to move some plants into a more suitable, late autumn location so that they can continue to thrive and provide leaves, fruit, and flowers for you to enjoy. Here are 6 ideas so that you can extend your growing season a bit longer.

6 methods to help extend your growing season.

1. Know Your Weather

This is a very obvious first choice and it means simply keeping an eye on the weather forecast. If there is a heatwave, you need to water more. If a storm or thunderstorm is due, some plants will drink up the extra rain but you may want to protect more delicate ones like aubergines (eggplant in the US). Early on in the season, you may need frost protection like bubble wrap covers, cloches, or cardboard and the same goes for later on in the season.

Squash that is still producing flowers in September can go on to produce that fruit, provided no frost damage kills it off. Do not try to plant exotic plant seeds outdoors which are meant to grow in India or Brazil and expect the same results in your UK back garden. I always try one new exotic each year (with varying success) but my advice for new gardeners is to stick to seeds they know will grow well in their area.

2. How to Get More Heat: Cover and Wrap Plants!

• Buy a greenhouse or polytunnel. It depends on whether your winters tend to be harsh with cold winds, frost, and snow or whether you live in the sunny south of the UK where frost is not as frequent. You can protect wintering greenhouse plants by insulating the whole area with bubble wrap, to keep draughts out. Make sure you keep the door closed when frost is predicted. You can also use heated propagation mats to keep seeds at a steady temperature. These can be timed to come on at night time for a few hours or if the temperature drops below a certain temperature.
• In winter, warm up the soil in an outdoor area, where you will plant in spring by placing a layer of polythene, fleece, or even cardboard on the area. Allotments used to place old carpets down as cover but this has now been forbidden because many carpets contain poisonous substances, which can leak into your soil, and therefore your food. I use manure bags, compost bags, and any recycled clothes from home.
• I dig the patch over in the autumn first, and then add some homemade compost, and then lay the chosen cover.
• I cover this with comfrey leaves for my first crop of spring salads or peas. Just leave this weighed down with stones for the winter. When spring comes you can crumble the leaves directly into the soil to release their goodness.
• An added benefit is pest control because when you lift the cover, you will find a fantastic selection of slugs and snails which have used the cover all winter to evade the frost. Gather them all in a bucket in one go and feed them to the compost heap or the chicken coop!
• The ground underneath will be weed free and much warmer than the soil nearby. Perfect for early rows of lettuce and leafy vegetables!

• Use a cloche. These can be bought in garden centres or online or you can make one yourself. A cloche (pictured left) is usually a tunnel made from wire with fleece or polythene covering the tunnel to keep the heat in. Some gardeners use these to keep butterflies and moths away from cabbages and also to protect a new row of seeds from birds. I use them to keep a row of plants warmer for longer. On allotments, they have the dual purpose of keeping a particular plant warm in the cooler months and helping to promote early germination in spring. The word cloche comes from French and it refers to glass jars made to place over delicate plants. Nowadays we use washed-out milk or yogurt containers to do the same job but if you have an unlimited budget, look for some glass designs online. There are some beautiful designs!
• Cover up delicate trees: Some trees or delicate shrubs will benefit from frost protection in a very harsh winter. This is particularly important for almonds, apricots, and peach trees which tend to flower early. If a late frost comes, the whole crop may be ruined so use fleece or build some fences around the trunk to shade these shrubs from the worst of the weather. Drape blankets or fleeces, if snow is predicted.
• Protect plants on cold windowsills indoors. The coldest air from outside is next to your windowsills when you pull the curtains in the evening. To help keep that cold air out, place a piece of recycled bubble wrap around the pot and also next to the window to keep that cold away!
• Have you heard of hot beds and cold frames? These are ways to nourish and protect plants from harsh weather or to give them early protection in the spring. See more about hot beds and cold beds below in FAQs.

3. Know Your Growing Area

• Plan for the sunny areas. This is where you will place hungry feeders like peas and beans, sunflowers, squashes, and so on. You can heat up the ground by covering plots with fleece or cardboard after the last produce has been picked. In winter you can put a plant in a pot here to add some colour, then it is easy to remove this plant and the cover after the last frost has gone. Your new plants will get a head start, especially if you dig in some leaf mould, some manure, and some comfrey leaves to enrich the soil.
• Plan for the shady areas. Under protection from a fruit tree is often a shady spot where you will not find it easy for heavy feeders to grow. Plant mint and herbs that like shade and you cannot go wrong! Russian Tarragon is a great plant to self-seed in shady areas but do not plant sun lovers here. Remember that many Brassica plants (the Cabbage family – sprouts, cabbage, kale, etc) adore shade so when the leaves from autumn fill the ground, this is when your shady patch will come alive.
• Plan by season. Have you got a plant that dominates in one season but is not there in another?  When I know that my grape vines and my almond and cherry trees will cover the entire driveway in summer, I plan an early treat of flower bulbs and Honesty for a lovely spring display. Once they have finished, then I let the trees and the vine compete for light later. When the vine dies back completely in winter, then my snowdrops, grape hyacinths and cyclamen take over when the temperatures are cooler.

• Plan using a crop rotation system for your garden. If you want to keep your soil healthy it is not a good idea to keep growing the same crop on the same soil, as it depletes the area of the same nutrients. So if you have potatoes the first year, plant peas or beans the next year to add some nitrogen to the soil. Follow these up with cabbage family plants and finally, roots like carrots, parsnips, and swedes. Beans do not really tolerate frost whereas the cabbage plants are just fine with cold weather. In this way, plan for each area to have something to follow it so that you use the ground well and keep your soil healthy.

4. Get As Much Light as Possible for your Plants:

• Cut back overgrown shrubs, that keep the sun from getting to certain corners of the greenhouse and also those that shade your windowsills. It is really important to do this in the autumn, winter, or spring so that light can easily reach plants behind them or just close by.
• Big shrubs in the ground outside also benefit from pruning to keep them in shape and to make sure that plants underneath them have enough moisture and nutrients. The established shrubs have deeper roots than lettuce or herbs so to help these along, trim the branches and put them to dry for firewood or make them into mulch.
• Windowsill plants will love the extra light and will help your new seedlings to develop well.
• Place your greenhouse in the sunniest location. This is easy on paper, but in my garden, this meant either moving a gooseberry bush or trimming back a bay tree. If you and your family are sun worshippers, you can have seats dotted all over the garden to catch the sun but the greenhouse plants need steady sunlight, water, and nutrients and they can’t hop and move into the sun so make sure you give your greenhouse the sunniest location. You can always put a seat in there so the family can enjoy it too!
• Indoors, check that furniture is not shading indoor plants when you want as much sun as possible. Move it for the summer if it stops light getting in.
• Vertical gardeners or balcony growers can use mirrors and paint the wall black to attract more sun. This work really well if you paint a wall black behind a pallet shelf for example. The mirrors can also help to increase the feeling of space in a small terrace but be warned that increased heat in summer may need to water more.

5. Harden Off Plants Before Placing Them in Permanent Positions

This means that you allow greenhouse plants to get used to the weather outdoors by placing them out in the sun for a while each day as soon as it feels warm enough.

This means you can plant more delicate seeds like aubergines and courgettes earlier than in the soil, and use the greenhouse protection to have bigger plants ready earlier. This is the time of year when gardeners are keeping an eye out for blustery winds, frost, or anything that their new plants will not like.

All the plants need to go back indoors before Jack Frost visits though, so I usually have a table outside my greenhouse and move them out early in the morning and back in at sunset. It takes a while each day but the plants like being outdoors during the day and get used to it gradually.

6. Plant a Second Set of Seeds at the End of the Summer

When I first started my allotment, Mick a more experienced grower, told me to always plant more seeds in August. I remember looking at Mick blankly and thinking “But it’s nearly the end of the season?” He let me into a big secret.

In Kent, the frost may keep away until December and the squash plants will keep going but you can plant lettuce, rocket, parsley, and even beans in August so that you get a second run of greens by October and right up to the time when the frosts hit.

Obviously, if your frosts start in October, this is not necessarily good for your area but you can think about which seeds might survive indoors on a windowsill or in your greenhouse if you give them some protection in colder spells.

• Certain seeds are better planted in August because they do not bolt so easily. “Bolting” means the plant gets too hot and tries to flower and go to seed, like beautiful white basil flowers but lovely as they are, the whole plant then tries to go to seed and dies off.
• Herbs like Rocket are fabulous because they will grow outside and you can pick green leaves all winter. Garlic Mustard is another hardy green salad that I eat all year round. “Winter Density” is a Cos lettuce that performs really well in colder temperatures. Coriander has been another success story for me in my winter greenhouse and Winter Savoury is another delicate taste to add to salads in the cooler months. Placing a cloche over these late seeders will conserve nighttime warmth too to ensure germination takes place. You can remove the cloche if the weather is mild.
• Transfer less hardy plants like Basil into the greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill and try to keep them cooler, remove the flowers (you can eat basil flowers), and they last longer too.
• Tarragon and Lovage must be protected from frost and both tend to die back when the weather gets cool so just make sure their pots are protected indoors and plant them back outdoors when the weather gets warmer.
• Take cuttings from herbs before winter. This is just in case the frost kills any you have left outside. We all remember years of heavy snow and bitter cold and some herbs just give up in this weather. If you have taken cuttings, you can still enjoy them indoors and wait for spring to plant them in the soil the following spring.

What is the difference between a cold frame and a hot frame (or bed)?

A cold frame is a box with a removable (or adjustable lid), full of soil on a slope, usually close to a building that can provide some warmth. This could be a conservatory, a greenhouse, or a shed. Some gardeners use hay bales stacked to provide some insulation from the cold and then fill the inside with soil and add the lid.

The idea is that it provides new seeds a chance to grow in a warm, frost-free environment. The soil can be made from homemade compost, leaf mould, old plant pot soil, etc. You place your seeds in pots on top of the soil and as the weather improves, you can lift the lid and harden them off until the weather gets warmer.

The advantages are that you can start seeds a lot earlier than if they are in cold, wet soil and you can also protect them by covering them up at night or when frost or cold weather is forecast. The seedlings are usually in pots and then transplanted into the growing bed as soon as the danger of frost is gone.

A hot bed is a box similar to the cold frame but usually placed on top of a warm area, such as a large compost heap. If you have ever felt the top of a plastic composting bin, you will be surprised at how warm it is.

This is due to the rotting and decomposing of the material in the heap. Heat rises so the placing of a grow box on the top will mean these plants benefit from a really cosy atmosphere. Plants grown like this include melons (which are super fussy about heat) or aubergines, which adore the heat and being placed on top, they can greedily absorb every bit of available sunshine.

The hot bed has a lid too and you can lower or raise the lid to make the plant happy. In mid-summer, the heat continues to work and you can completely remove the lid if the temperature is stable.

Both hot beds and cold frames benefit from facing south, to make the best of available sunshine. Insulation can be provided in winter using straw, wood piles, old planks, recycled cloth, bubble wrap, or polythene to increase temperatures.

They need soil to slope for stability and to allow many plants access to the sun. Watering is essential too as the hot bed, in particular, can reach very high temperatures in summer. You can DIY either of them using your outdoor compost heap to provide heat and a free wall to build a cold frame.

They both offer the gardener the chance to both protect vulnerable plants in cold weather and boost growth before the plant can normally go directly into the soil.

Conclusion

Hopefully, by now you will have discovered a few ways to extend your growing season wherever you live. Cloches, greenhouses, and sunny windowsills offer protection to delicate plants and their cheerful scent indoors will fill your space too.

Hot beds and cold frames provide additional space and weeks in the growing calendar. Covering up delicate plants with fleece, cardboard, or carpet can save trees and shrubs that don’t enjoy the snowy weather.

Your greenhouse can have a dual function of protecting more delicate herbs and also allowing you to experiment with hardier herbs and salads that will happily grow throughout the year so that you can have salad all year round. Wrap up, keep warm and bring the delicate ones indoors. Winter does not have to be a gardener’s holiday!

Useful websites

• https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/greenhouses/cold-frames-for-spring-seedlings.htm
• https://agriculturistmusa.com/difference-between-hot-bed-and-cold-frame/#:~:text=1.,glass%2C%20Fiberglas%2C%20or%20plastic.

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Some readers may never even have heard of a Mary Garden. These gardens are very common in countries where the Virgin Mary is revered and they usually include a statue of Mary, as part of the garden design.

Often found in religious settings where people report a visitation by the Virgin, these gardens are famous for the peace they bring to the visitor.

Commonly found in convents, monasteries and religious sites of importance like Lourdes in France, a traditional Mary Garden is planted with certain colors and plants that have a connection to the saint historically.

Even if you have no religious beliefs, this is the perfect space to provide a calm place for contemplation, meditation, and quiet enjoyment in our busy modern world.

Let’s look at the symbolism of these plants first, and then ways to make a peaceful garden in any corner you choose, whether it is on a balcony, a patio or an unloved shady corner of your outdoor space.

What is the symbolism of the flowers?

These gardens celebrate the virgin birth, with the white flowers signifying her innocence and purity, while the blue flowers echoed the colour of the robe she wore, described by those she appeared to. The herbs and shrubs planted were used for their scent and their healing powers.

Many of the flowers refer to Mary in their name or include “Lady” or Our Lady, a phrase often used in prayers to the saint. The planting is quite traditional in Mary Gardens but it can be adapted to suit your garden space, and also depending on whether it is in shade or sun.

Followers of the Catholic religion believe in the birth of a child to a virgin called Mary, and our modern-day Christmas celebrations are birthday celebrations for her child, Jesus Christ.

• The Marigold (Calendula Officinalis) is said to mean Mary’s gold, and it is believed that poorer Christians (who had no gold to offer) used to place these flowers on shrines in place of gold offerings.
• Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita) is also known as Bible Leaf or the Camphor plant, maybe due to the delicious scent of its edible leaves, which is close to eucalyptus with a dash of mint.
• Mary’s Tears is a common name for Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) and this flower is a regular in almost every Mary Garden. The hanging white bells are wonderful when in season in early spring. Be careful with children or pets though because this one is poisonous if consumed.
• Our Lady’s Gloves (or Fingers) are Foxgloves (Digitalis) for the soft texture and the way a flower is just the right size for a finger! They deserve a place if your garden is shady, their bright spikes of blooms will provide colour in May and last until autumn as a background for other plants. This flower is processed and used medically for heart conditions but do not eat it because it is poisonous!
• Mary’s Praise is another name for flowering petunias. These annual blooms come in many colours and add a splash of summer colour.
• Lady’s Bedstraw (Galium verum) offers a beautiful scent used for strewing and ceremonies and smells heavenly in your backyard.
• Lady’s Keys (Primula veris) is another name for the Cowslip, with its drooping flowers seen as the shape of an old-fashioned key.
• The Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum) is another favourite for its white blooms.
• Our Lady’s Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) brings a dash of purplish blue to the colour scheme.
• Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is a good choice to offer green foliage to show the brilliance of bright white flowers.

Other plants could include:

• Mary’s Star is the common daisy found on lawns and made into daisy chains.
• Mary’s Drying Plant (Lavender) was said to have been used to lay down the body, from the crucifixion. In your garden, its scent can permeate the whole area.
• Blue irises (from the iridicae family with 30 different flowers) are chosen for their deep blue and white petals.
• Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) has scented leaves, with blue flowers later in the season, and the colour is a typical addition to Mary Gardens.
• Our Lady’s Modesty is the tiny violet, with minute, purple flowers. Legend has it that the purple flower first appeared when the Archangel Gabriel spoke to Mary and she replied to the news of her pregnancy with the famous “I am the handmaid of the Lord.”

Monastic Herbs for Your Mary Garden

Traditionally these included herbs for strewing – bed straw types and those known for their healing properties such as Sage and Rosemary.

In the Catholic church, certain herbs are still used in ceremonies such as Benediction, where burning herbs permeate the interior of the church, the scent emanating from a ceremonial holder held and shaken by a priest celebrating the mass.

If you know Native American traditions, such as the burning of Sweetgrass, Sage, Cedar or Tobacco in ceremonies, these plants and herbs can be planted to bring that same reverence and peace to your garden. The scents linger in the area where visitors sat for prayer, meditation or pure relaxation.

To achieve these scents, try Hyssop, Meadowsweet, Sage, Rosemary and Tansy here in the UK while in other parts of the world, you can choose sweet-smelling herbs and flowers that grow well where you live.

Incorporating Local Plants

Obviously, gardeners will use the plants that are native to and grow well in their area, while adhering to the general idea. In Knock, which is situated in southern Ireland, the horticulturalist designer chose plants native to the whole island of Ireland including the northern 6 counties, thereby invoking a message of peace so that the garden became a symbol for pilgrims of plants used to show the harmony between north and south. The plants themselves show a diversity of environments and habitats and become an intrinsic element of these sacred spaces.

8 Countries Where You Can Visit a Mary Garden.

France

The earliest known Mary Garden is a seventh-century herbal garden built in Breuil, France, built by an Irish monk, Fiacre, who emigrated there and made a garden for “herbal medicine”.

Fiacre is the patron saint of gardeners too! At that time, monasteries grew food including vegetables and fruit to feed the monks and also a selection of herbs to have access to medicine. There was also an oratory for the Virgin Mary which is now recognised as the first Mary Garden.

Our Lady of Lourdes, France

This location has a statue of Mary in the cave where Bernadette Soubirous is said to have seen an apparition appear in 1858. The siting of the gardens was common in places where miracles and curing are reputed to have occurred.

In Lourdes, the water from the spring there is claimed to help aid recovery from numerous illnesses and maladies. Nowadays there are over three million visitors to Lourdes every year and the Mary Garden is actually the whole shrine, but particularly this small cave, where she was first reportedly seen.

Ireland

Our Lady’s National Shrine in Knock, is where 15 people observed an apparition of Mary in 1879. In 1983, work began on creating a garden dedicated to Our Lady, using flowers with a connection to her from every county in Ireland, that is the 28 counties in southern Ireland and the 6 counties of the North.

Anne Hopkins Lavin, the Shrine horticulturist, chose 73 plants and flowers with relevance to Our Lady and created a garden with raised beds, using local stone to plant these 73 varieties.

The Artane Mary Garden of Remembrance in Dublin is situated on the north side of Dublin, providing a green lung in a busy urban centre.

The Philippines

The Manila Observatory offers another fine example.

Cuba

The Ambos Mundos (Both Worlds) Hotel had a beautiful Mary Garden in Havana but lives on only in memories and photos as it has now been demolished.

Japan

The Akita Mary Garden in Japan is dedicated to a wooden statue of the virgin, and celebrates an apparition reported in 1973.

England

Lincoln Cathedral has a cloister planting dedicated to Our Lady.

The US

The Mother Garden at Woods Hole, and the Mary Gardens at Saint Mary’s Parish, Annapolis in Maryland, which are located close to the historic Carroll House.

How do I prepare the site of my Mary Garden?

For me, these gardens have always provided a tranquil, beautiful, scented, peaceful space to contemplate whatever issues mattered to me. If you have ever visited Zen or Buddhist gardens, I find the atmosphere to be very similar although the planting may be different.

This is often a corner or sheltered garden which allows you to simply think (or not think) quietly. It is your garden, so choose a spot you love and then make a plan so that you have flowers in bloom for most of the year. For some ideas, mine is below.

My version of the Mary Garden.

Planting includes both white and blue flowers, green foliage and herbs in blue pots.

• This spot only gets direct sunlight for a few hours early in the day and again later in the evening. So this is usually a shady spot, filled with a white chair, a white wall and a climbing white rose, fragrantly blooming from June through to Autumn.
• Blue flowers there are provided by ongoing planting; Grape Hyacinths early in the spring, followed by forget-me-nots in early May, then bluebells. A few alliums sometimes sneak into this space in a pot in May.
• I have a jumping metal fish diving into the scene and I am mindful of the intricate shadow patterns on my white chair. This is my spot for drawing and relaxing, taking some respite from the hot sun but there is a tiny Black Madonna I bought while travelling in Brazil, who is disguised by the branches but she is visible from where I sit. A Buddha (or any other statue) can be built into your design.
• By June, my Philadelphus (Mock Orange) scent fills the air with its gorgeous sprays of white blooms and Rosemary’s blue flowers are decorating the pot. I chose mainly blue pots and then change the plants so that something is always in flower and there is food for the visiting pollinators. The spiked plant is a Mullein, whose dried foliage delights me.
• By September, Delphiniums, Oxeye daisies and Silverweed are my favourites and the blue hydrangea flowers come into their own. Balmy happy days!

Conclusion

From now on when you travel, you may spot a Mary Garden in a quiet, secluded area of a cathedral garden and understand the significance.

Do let me know if I have missed one out where you live! I hope you can create a scented, peaceful garden area in the same style in your own space, using appropriate local flowers and scents. Use it daily and allow the peace to permeate your daily life. Enjoy!

Useful websites

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_garden
• https://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/plant-profile/Costmary/
• https://www.knockshrine.ie/about-knock-shrine/
• https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=223
• https://udayton.edu/marianlibrary/marysgardens/k/knock-national-irish-mary-garden.php
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Akita
• St. Clare Garden – Santa Clara University (scu.edu)
• https://udayton.edu/marianlibrary/marysgardens/b/background-on-marys-gardens.php#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20better%20known,of%20Lincoln%20Cathedral%20in%20England.
• https://ucatholic.com/blog/did-you-know-the-history-behind-mary-gardens/

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