A knife, a piece of string and a shilling

One of the many characters I remember from the old days at Knights was Bert. I don’t know if I ever knew his surname and I certainly can’t remember it now – perhaps one of you know. I was endlessly fascinated by his tales of life ‘in service’ when he worked in a private estate. I am pretty sure it was for Baron Schroder who had an estate at Reigate but as these stories were casual while we were working please forgive my vagueness. He regaled me with stories of the ‘bothy’ and a bell that had to be rung in the morning to signal time for work. These were the days of big estates with big staffs and gardens and greenhouses run on a grand scale. Whole greenhouses were devoted to peaches, vines and potted plants for display in the house. It was Bert that told me about the sizing system of pots. Before we adopted the current system of plastic pots graded either by their diameter or volume, clay pots were numbered and 48s were smaller than 12s. It seems illogical but the reason was that the number was the number of pots made from a given lump of clay.

He also told me that any gardener worthy of the name always carried a knife, a piece of string and a shilling. With these three things anyone could ‘cut, tie and buy’ – although with a shilling the equivalent of 5p (for those of you lucky enough not to know) you would not get much now. I do always carry a knife with me as a result, though I am sure Bert would be horrified that I do not keep it as sharp as I should.

He also told me that the boss had to have a gardenia buttonhole on his tray every morning and a whole greenhouse was filled with the plants to ensure this was possible. It was at this time that I fell in love with the heavy, rather soapy, tropical fragrance of gardenias and whenever we got plants in to sell I would inhale their scent greedily. They are not the easiest of houseplants to keep and often, the smaller buds on plants you buy, fail to open. They need a slightly shaded spot, plenty of warmth and watering with cool, boiled water, to drive off the chlorine and remove any lime. Even if they only last a few months I think they are worth the money. But now we have hardy gardenias that can be grown in the garden. The first of these was ‘Kleim’s Hardy’ which has the scent but the single flowers were rather a let down. But now there is ‘Royal Crown’ with proper double flowers. Neither are very vigorous and I can’t recommend them for the open garden but they do well in a patio pot where they can be cossetted and should flower for many months in summer, filling the air with perfume. Bert would hardly have believed it.

Staying at home

We are experiencing difficult times and I am constantly thinking of what I need to do in the garden. As well as compost, seeds and bulbs I need timber to make raised beds in my polytunnel (put up last year) and new raised beds to grow veg.

We put the polytunnel up last summer and rushed to plant things – I need to organise it better this year

Having spent two years building the house this spring was supposed to be when I made the veg garden. But that is going to have to wait. We are all having to face problems. But even if we can not do what we planned in the garden, this is the chance to do those little jobs that take time but not a lot of money:

Get on top of those weeds – hoe them off rather than spray them.
Prune out the green, reverted shoots on variegated shrubs
Prune roses if you have not done it already
If you have the paint in the shed, give fences, trellis and sheds a coat
Trim and recut lawn edges to make them neat
Wash and clean pots, trays and plastic labels
Deadhead daffodils

Tips for the week: 29 March 2020

Tomatoes

If you just grow a few tomatoes and are happy to buy your young plants then ignore this, but if you are growing from seed and will be growing in a cold greenhouse then you should sow your seeds now. Tomatoes need regular treatment to grow, lightly covering the seeds and keeping them at about 20c to germinate. Always use clean pots or trays and fresh compost for sowing. Don’t risk using an old bag that may be full of disease spores. I always cover my seeds with Perlite (you can use vermiculite too) because it lets light reach the seeds which is essential for some plants, though not for tomatoes. When it comes to varieties, I have grown hundreds and always grow a dozen or so every year. I never grow ‘Moneymaker’ which is too much like bland, supermarket toms for me to bother with. Every now and then I will grow ‘Ailsa Craig’ for a round, red, six-to-the-pound tom (you can tell I worked in a green grocer) but ‘Shirley’ and many others are probably better. Because I grow for taste I grow lots of small toms, as well as beefsteaks – I actually like soggy tomato sandwiches especially with lots of vinegar.

‘Sungold’ is the only tomato I grow every year – it is so sweet and delicious. ‘Rosella’ was a revelation when I first grew it several years ago – the catalogue said it tasted of raspberries. Although it definitely tastes of tomatoes it does have hints of summer fruits and it is very productive. ‘Sweet Aperitif’ is another I grow regularly and its small cherry toms are incredibly sweet – few make the journey from the poly tunnel to the kitchen.

Another that I go back to every now and then, and am growing again this year is ‘Tomatoberry Garden’. It is a strange thing with ‘heart-shaped’, small fruit that are tasty and quite firm. And one other that usually has a place is ‘Britain’s Breakfast’. It is a multiflora variety meaning it has trusses with literally hundreds of flowers, though only thirty or so usually set. The lemon-shaped fruit are red and firm and ideal for frying along with the rashers and also among the best for sauce. I only let each plant produce two, or at most, three trusses.

The new ‘purple’ tomatoes have intrigued me with their health claims and I am not averse to eating tomatoes of every shade, but I have found that they rarely colour up as well as they should and their taste is always a bit lacking. I am trying ‘Midnight Snack’ this year and will give it prime position so the sun can colour up the fruits – but I won’t be ditching ‘Sungold’.

Daffodils

Daffodils have been delighting us for weeks and, if we chose wisely, they will continue to provide flowers in different varieties well into April. And how do we reward them for their efforts? Well, unfortunately some people cut off the straggly leaves or tie them into knots. Skeins of wool from project jumpers long abandoned are used as tourniquets to strangle the poor plants. It is vital that the leaves are allowed to develop naturally so they can feed the bulbs for next season. When the flowers fade, snap them off, along with the round, green seed pod to prevent seed formation and speed up bulb formation. Let the leaves alone. You must wait at least six weeks after the flowers fade before you remove the leaves, then you can trim them off, if necessary.

Lilies

Lilies used to be difficult to grow but modern hybrids have made lily growing easy. They are hardy and most improve year after year. The fragrant OT lilies, often sold as tree lilies, reach 1m or more in their first year but can reach double that after a few seasons with a dozen or more, huge blooms. Together with the upward-facing, July-blooming Asiatic types these tolerate lime in the soil. However, the Oriental hybrids, usually in shades of pink and white, are intolerant of lime and must have acid soil. If you garden on limey soil they are easily grown in pots of ericaceous compost.

Lilies form roots from the lower, buried part of their stems as they grow so plant them at least 10cm deep. They will grow in sun or part shade and love some extra organic matter dug into the soil. They may like moisture but they will not tolerate waterlogged soil. But they are hardy so cold will not harm them. You can cut them for the house too. Make sure you leave at least half the length of stem behind and allow them to die back naturally and they will be at least as good the next year.

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