The coast

I live all but 20 minutes drive from the sea and I love it.  If I'm honest I couldn't imagine life without it or at least the prospect of it.  Every season I promise myself I will get more time in the water and every year I get less. I often contemplate a small place around Croyde that I can retreat to in winter and catch some of the waves the grimmer weather can offer.

This, however, is a dream and the one thing I know would upset me is the limited choice of plants. (There are of course lots of plants that will thrive near the sea but very few that will take a spot on the beach.) So with that moan about not having enough surfing time and a lead into plants at the seaside I will endeavour to discuss some of the plants you might like to try and the ways you can get away with more.

As with so many aspects of gardening, there are several rules of thumb that will get you by if you are planning a seaside garden. Your first problem, if you garden by the sea, is that your plants must be able to put up with salt winds. So how do you know that the plant will be ok with a salt wind? It might be the preffered approach of Prince Charles, but I'm afraid a sit down discussion with each subject you like the look of is not going to result in good choices. In honesty it will most likely encourage your eviction from the nursery in a comfortable and secure white van!

What will be useful, though, is the recongnition of features that help prevent moisture loss through foliage: blue/grey and hairy. (Not a comment on the residents of Glasgow but a very good indicator of foliage that will retain good amounts of moisture despite drying winds and salt air.) Some examples are Brachyglottis (Senecio), Nepeta, Lavandula, Eryngium, Echinops, Stachys.
The other thing that is useful to know is that fine-foliaged or needled plants are very good at retaining moisture. This said, it must be applied with some caution. Not all needled and fine foliage plants will cope but many do thrive. To give examples of both, many of the pines love the sea, Tamarix grows beautifully and grasses will seed themselves merrily through pebbles and scree. On the other hand Acer Koto no ito will scream with fear as it approaches the coast.

As I mentioned earlier, the proximity to the sea plays an important part in what you can have in your garden. If you are on the beach with no breaks then be content with the fact you have some prime real estate and that the sea kale, Eryngium and Centranthus are pointers to that fact.
If you are, however, a row or two back from the sea be happy in the thought that your neighbour has sheltered your property from the weather and sea, and that although he or she has more value in their house they can, of course, grow sod all while you have a broader pallette to work with!

One last point before I give a little list of great seaside plants - remember a garden is yours to experiment with. Although some things shouldn't grow there it is more often the case that some plants, which have no right growing in the harsh coastal conditions, will do just wonderfully in a little spot in your garden.

So here is a short list of plants that you could try:

Grasses (nearly all)        Tamarix                 Crambe          Lavandula            Hebe (some)
Phormium                       Cordyline               Pinus (some)  Eryngium             Cytisus
Genista                           Allium                    Eremurus       Olea (sheltered)   Osmanthus
Olearia                           Sedum                    Rosmarinus    Malva                  Brachyglottis (Senecio)

There are lots more but there's a start.

Friendly beasties the evil weed!

'Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?' Well me, frankly! But I have to say not as afraid as some of the aphid in the nursery this week. I have released some of the finest predators known to pest and I'm not afraid to have them on the payroll.

I started at the nursery eight years ago, give or take, and when I started we had an arsenal of chemicals that would have made the weapons of mass destruction look non existent. I have worked hard to reduce chemicals and to pay close attention to biological control.

Our chemical control is now 10% of what it was and our friendly bugs and fungi are starting to need topping up rather than restocking. We still have aphid and we still have caterpillar but we spray with biocontrol safe sprays when we have to.  We allow a percentage of damage and accept that everything has to be in balance.

It is, of course, well worth knowing that you can buy nearly all of the bugs that we use online or in store. If you need encarsia in the greenhouse for those pesky whitefly or Aphidius persimilis for the little terrors eating your fruit trees then make sure you use them.

I would love to be 100% pesticide free but for us it is a labour cost we could ill afford and I think it is well worth considering that as a home gardener. Your garden is intended to be a haven for relaxation and entertaining on warm, sunny, memorable days. It isn't supposed to be a weight around your neck that insists you tend to it hourly.

It is with this in mind that I suggest the following: if you insist on perfection and complete removal of all living things that harm your favourite blooms then biological control and organic gardening are not for you. You apply beneficial insects to reduce sap sucking, leaf munching insects and keep a tolerable balance, and this is never perfect. As for weed control there is nothing but the continuous pulling, hoeing and raking to look forward to and that too is far from perfect.

I like to combine the two. I spray with glyphosate which, once it meets the soil, is inert and once dry is completely harmless. I use this for all surfaces and although it isn't instant it is far more satisfactory than burning the tops off with Diquat or other contact herbicides as it works to the root.

In the garden I use very little of anything. I am, however, vigilant. If I see a curled over leaf I will investigate and usually I will see the pest and deal with it by hand. This works well with caterpillar but not so well with smaller pests and I find that Ecover washing up liquid, or a handheld insecticide is a good gardening companion.

So where do I stand on pesticide? I'm afraid I sit on the fence. As a commercial grower I know there are some things I can't get rid of without some use of chemical although I know I can reduce my chemical use with good plant husbandry and cleanliness. I also know that biological control is a fantastic way of keeping harmony in a garden.

So here are what I suggest as some pointers:

• Be a good gardener. Clean up and keep your tools sharp and clean
• Believe your parents! A little work now will save a tonne later
• Bio control is not new but it is now much easier, so use it where you can
• Don't discount chemicals but use them where there is no real alternative except madness
• Make sure above all else that your garden doesn't join the list of chores that you already have*
• Remember a garden is about balance and not having it all your own way. Nature has a tendency to win (thank goodness). 
• If you are ever unsure of the best route with your garden please ask people who care. This means avoiding the DIY stores and talking to nursery folk and real garden centres.
• Your garden is for you and your family and friends. If all you want is a barbeque on 6ft grass then stick with it and call it meadow planting!

I hope this blog makes sense and that biological control makes a little more sense.

*I have had countless people ask me what to do with lawns. The answer is simple. 'If you want a pristine lawn please give up weekends (unless you are retired and have time), and if it is for football practice, do nothing until the kids have stopped destroying it. Oh, and if you are very shady in aspect make more shrub beds'.

The supermarket gardener

I try very hard not to go to the supermaket hungry, for fear of buying everything sweet and chocolatey the store has to offer. I'm not sure how to avoid the same thing happening with plant shopping. As a retailer I know we put temptation in your way so you can do nothing but buy the shiny sunny-faced beauties we entice you with.
I really don't want anyone to stop buying in the ravenous way I do on an empty stomach, but somehow I feel a duty to help people buy in a way that leads to a beautiful garden all year round and not just for the one sunny day we had in April that year.
It wasn't that long ago that people had to buy in autumn/winter because it was the only way to buy plants. It's a hard way to buy but what it did was make people think about their garden for the whole year and plant for the long term. I love that we can all buy and plant for the whole year but sadly it doesn't make us buy for the year. It makes us all dribbling, plant lusting zombies that cannot control their urge to buy the 'precious'. I have seen two women lock eyes across the plant area in a blood chilling dash to the last Erysimum Bowles Mauve or Choisya Sundance. It is only once the plant is secured that the blood lust subsides and the air is filled with calm once more.
I have, in the past, waited until that moment and then brought out a trolley laden with four different colours of Erysimum just to see what will happen. It's a sad thing but very entertaining.

So what do you do instead of the supermarket sweep? My advice is simple and also just that: advice. I wouldn't dare tell a woman to think more carefully about her shoes or wardrobe and equally I'm not brave enough to do that with plants. What I would say is to apply a more interior approach to outside.

If you want a cool garden then fill it with greens (Hostas) and blues(Nepeta and Festuca glauca) and other cooling shades. If you would like a  garden hotter than the very pits of hell then fill it with Crocosmia Lucifer, Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff and Rudbeckia Goldquelle. In the same way as a Crunchie makes a poor sandwhich filling some plants will not fit your garden no matter how much you want them at the garden centre or nursery. 

I feel guilty telling you all not buy on a whim because, as a plantsman, my garden has very seldomly been manicured or tailored to a colour scheme. I would also say that anyone who has met me would probably pass that comment on my general appearance. In my defence the plants are usually a little out of the ordinary or querky and so would seldomly work well with other plants. As for my wardrobe ther is little I can offer in defence.

I have two very good friends who are extremely adept at choosing plants for schemes and designs but they do work on large scales. I think it is more difficult for small gardens but also tremendous fun. If you have a large garden I would encourage mass plantings with points of interest. Hellebore underplanting with Catalpa or snake bark maple, Digitalis and cherry or crab apple trees. In a large garden individual plants really get lost without a canvas to place them on.

I'm unsure really why I started this blog in particular but I see a lot of shopping trollies filled to the brim with fantastic plants of all sorts of colours. They look amazing.... in the basket and I can see the aim but feel it will never be exactly what the customer was looking for. Our time is really stretched in the nursery at this time of year but all of my staff will always help with the practicalities, and I think it is worth a quick natter with someone before you take home the beginnings of your Capability Brown moment.

Big or small there are plants for them all

One of the most difficult things to do is to find plants you love for the space you have available. It has taken me a really long time to be patient with people asking me about heights and spreads of plants. I have always thought that you can have whatever you want if you are willing to spend the time looking after it. To me it is simple but to other people a plant, like a manufactured item, must conform to the boundaries we have set it.

Well for those who feel that should be the case let me get the ground rules straight. Plants grow to a limit that we can only estimate and some are smaller than others, but one thing is for sure: they grow as they want and not as you would like unless you administer a little discipline.

My major plant type at the moment is fruit. I, along with so many people, feel that it is important for our children to know where their food comes from. I'm not about to embark on a Jamie Oliver style course in how to eat (although I do admire the principal) but I do want people to know it is easy to get apples, pears and plums etc. in a small space.

The Romans conjured up espaliers in order to provide the best growing in the uk and other dingy nations, and all the other fruit trains such as cordon, fan and stepover have all come about in history as a result of practicality and design. The history of fruit is exstensive and I wouldn't dream of boring you with it, so at this point I'll leave it there.

This is all to say that fruit can be grown easily in your garden without sacrificing the Old Trafford style football pitch or even the Hampton Court style flower bed. There are, of course, fruits that can't be grown in small places. Gojii berry and Kiwi fruit are not the plants for small terrace gardens and cannot realistically be kept small. Every garden has walls or fences and this should be the domain for trained fruit. It isn't unrealistic to expect family sized crops of apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears and plums from even the smallest gardens if you use espalier, fan and cordon forms on the appropriate walls or fences.

It doesn't end there, oh no, not by a long way! If eating from the garden is your thing then please remember to use all the little nooks and crannies that are never seen and seldom used. Hanging baskets are perfect for tumbling cherry tomatoes, strawberries,lettuce and other salad crops and herbs of all sorts. Any container can be used for these plants and I must say my favourite displays have been where creativity has taken over. Old tea boxes, Canteen sized tins, wooden crates and even a pick up truck have been used to the most incredible effect with veg and pretties alike. Potatoes, french beans and runner beans are well suited to container gardening and rely only on good watering to provide heaps of food for the house. I know root veg can be grown in the small garden but they are best in the ground and I have always thought that summer foods are the best choice for small garden production.

I have blithered on about veg but the principles are the same for ornamental gardening. One group of plants I can't recommend enough are alpines. Small growing compact plants with a wild array of colours, these little beauties are fabulous for small gardens. Plant them in troughs or baskets, apply grit around the necks and all through the year you can have colour and cover in neat pockets around the garden.

For shady gardens don't forget how powerful foliage forms can be. Hostas, ferns and Ligularia are all plants that love the shade and can create some well needed coolness on hot sunny days.
The last thing I will mention is to ensure that your boundary walls are well covered with good climbers to create some depth to the garden. Why not try using little cheats with perspective. A small statue or figure at the end of a garden or even a trellis made to give an image of distance. Be creative with your wall plants too. Lonicera (honeysuckle) and Clematis are not the only climers on the planet. Try your luck with Muhlenbeckia, Billardiera and Decumaria.

The most important thing is to try it. What's the worst that can happen?

Grow on then!

I started in horticulture when I was 16 years old and was given time and a lot of patience by a super lady called Sheila Hayden. My job really, was spotty teenage till monkey and I did fulfill the duties of a till monkey rather well (even if I do say so myself).
Sheila taught me that horticulture is the one job you can have and spend time legitimately standing seemingly doing nothing. My first introduction to seemingly doing nothing was watering. It is the one job that I struggle to get anyone to do properly and it is the fundamental start to getting plants to do what you want them to do.
This aside, my love of plants started in this job and soon swelled into a desire to sing....... Well actually not sing but to go and learn more for certain.
This thought led me to talk to Sheila who said 'For god's sake don't go and be a bloody designer! Learn about the plants' These not so dulcet tones ringing through my brain drew me to the prospectus of Pershore College. Every concievable course was there from Arboriculture to the evil and accursed design courses.
My first thoughts swung directly to the course that would allow me to wield heavy machinery with gay abandon 'Arboriculture' and then I heard Shiela again 'learn about the plants'. To be honest it wasn't just Shiela, a good friend had said that they never got girls on the 'arb' course and they usually smell a bit due to swinging in trees and being clad in chain mail. Knowing all of this helped me to choose the worst paid of all the horticultural trades, 'Hardy Nursery Stock'
I hear many of you swoon beneath the weight of glamour this yields and the rest of you say 'Why?'
The reason is this: To produce a field of plants from just a small room's worth of plant material is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done and I have never met a truly unhappy gardener. Yes we all moan a lot but truthfully it isn't real moaning, It's mostly about the weather or not enough growth in the runner beans this spring, and usually with a swift half or glass of pea pod it can all be remedied.
I could go on for a lot longer but I know I can dribble on so here's why I have started the blog. I love the job I'm in and I love the smiles people end up with when I tell them 'it isn't dead, it just hasn't had time to shake off the winter.' A good friend has just started a blog about his gardening company and it got me to thinking that I could make more people smile with a couple of pointers that will make life easier. Most of my dearest friends are gardeners or nurserymen and horticulture has always been about sharing knowledge, time and respect for each other and the plant world we chose to learn about. I don't know how regular it will be or if you will enjoy this blog but I hope you do and I challenge you dislike gardening in some form or other.  So as the title says 'Grow on then!'