Picture Folder Name Pages:-

Since 14 June 2019 I have also started to put my own full-sized 4000 x 3000 digital Camera images into the relevant topics in this website again for use in the Public Domain - since there may be 9 or more to a page the resulting
43 Mb website page may take some time to load. Since I have more than 26,522 photos using 111,460 Mb of my disk space, then the extra upfront cost per annum before creating more folders like Photo coleus is just over 3.16 pence per photo has been paid for the total number in that entire photo collection before any are sent to the website.
It is hoped that you may find them of interest.

Coleus Bedding Foliage Trial Folder
from Plant Trials Field in RHS Garden
at Wisley taken on
2 October 2013
1, plus Tables of Annuals with/for:-
2, Blue to Purple Flowers
3, Red to Pink Flowers 1, 2
4, Green Flowers
5, Black or Brown Flowers
6, Yellow, and Orange Flowers
7, White Flowers
8,
9, Low-Growing
10,
11, Medium-Growing
12, Tall-Growing
13, Heat-Tolerant
14, Moist Soil
15, Shade
16, Indoors
17, Cutting
18, Naturalize
19, Decorative Foliage
20, Edging
21, Fragrance
22, Hanging Baskets
23, Vining
24, Wildflower Meadows
25, Coastal Gardens
26, Mounded Habit
27, Erect Habit
28, Clump-Forming Habit
29, Compact/Bushy Habit
30, Spreading/Sprawling Habit
31, To Cover Fences
32, Odds and Sods 1, 2
Coleus Bedding Trial Index
Range, Culture and Description Details of each of the above are within
Essential Annuals The 100 best for Design and Cultivation.
Text by Elizabeth Murray. Photography by Derek Fell.
Published by Crescent Books in 1989. ISBN 0-517-66177-2

Bedding Gallery has
other bedding plants, in their
flower colour,
flower shape and
bedding plant use
pages.

Topic - Flower/Foliage Colour
Colour Wheel Galleries
Following your choice using Garden Style then that changes your Plant Selection Process
Garden Style
...Infill Plants
...12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
...12 Foliage Colours per Month Index
...All Plants Index
...Cultivation, Position, Use Index
...Shape, Form
Index
Further details on Bedding from the Infill Plants Galleries of the above topic:-
...for Spring
...for Summer
...for Autumn
...for Winter
...for Sandy Soil
...for Acid Soil
...for Chalky Soil
...for Clay Soil
...Flower Colour:-
......Black
......Blue
......Orange
......Pink
......Purple
......Red
......White
......Yellow
......Multi-coloured
...Use of Bedding:-
......Aromatic Fol
......Scented Flo
......Long Flo
......Coloured Fol
......for Bees, etc
......Cut Flos
......Hanging Pot
......Pots/ Troughs
......Screening
......Window Box
......Bedding Out
......Filling in
Further details on Annuals from the Infill Galleries:-
Uses of Annuals
...Exposed Sites
...Sheltered Sites
...in Greenhouse
...Extra Poor Soil
...Very Rich Soil
...Gap Filling
...Patio Pots
...Cut Flowers 1, 2
...Everlasting Flos
...Attract Insects
...with Fragrance
...Bee Pollinated
...Annual Pairing
...Low-Growing
...Med-Growing
...Tall Growing
...Flower Colour:-
......Black/Brown
......Blue-Purple
......Green
......Red-Pink
......White
......Yellow/Orange
...for its Foliage
...in Moist Soil
...in Shade
...as Houseplants
...Edging Beds
...Hanging Basket
...Vining Annuals

Damage to Trees in Pavement in Madeira caused by the action of man during January/February 2019.

Solution to holes in trees.
Remove mesh covers and rot within the hole. Then blast the remaining rot with a high pressure water hose to try and clear more of the rot. Spray with Boron (a water based preservative kills only wood boring insects - not spiders, birds or bats) as a treatment for insect, wet and dry rot attack. While it is still wet, apply a layer of Expanding Foam to the bottom of the hole. Immediately place bottles on this 
and allow to set for 5 minutes. Apply another layer of expanding foam and another layer of bottles. The aim of the bottles is to occupy space, they are not there as a deterrent. That is why the foam has to be in contact with the inside of the tree not the glass bottle. The poisons in the foam will kill anything eating it and the foam does stick better when wet with water. Keep up this operation until the hole is covered. 
Leave to set and then paint the foam surface twice with a recommended water-based, but not oil-based, sealant.

Solutions to stop creating holes in trees.
When a branch is cut off, remember to cut it off on the other side of the Branch Collar. (See Figure 1 - Optimum position of the final pruning cut in "Guide to Tree Pruning" by the Arboricultural Association which shows the branch collar within and outside the tree. My Comments: I disagree with their recommendation not to apply wound paint as you can see the result if you do not paint trees which are dehydrated, starved and gassed as these trees in the pavements of Madeira are.) 
Once that is done, then immediately apply Boron and 2 coats of protective sealant as used for holes in trees above.

Solution to current problem on these mosaic pavements:-
Carefully remove the existing marble mosaic, concrete, tarmac, or paver and 
the concrete/metal enclosures round the trees. If any further solid material like gravel, bricks, stones etc can be removed as well, then do so. Level the ground with sharp sand (Sharp sand is like pyramids which lock together, builder's sand is like ball bearings which displaces itself elsewhere if it can when downward pressure is applied to it). 
The time to execute the above and complete the refilling with sharp sand must 
be completed within 20 minutes, otherwise the exposed roots will dry up and die. 
It is useful to now water it to settle the sand and keep the roots wet. Put the roll 
of continuous geotextile over the top before laying down the CEDAdrive slabs on 
top. Fill the slabs with the required colours of marble pea-shingle and leave a 
3 inch (7.5 cm) gap between the trunk and the CEDAdrive section (Besides black 
and white marble, you can get many other colours). Spead Green Manure seed in 
the gap and cover to the same level as the top of the CEDAdrive with its pea-shingle; 
with sharp sand. The Green manure will provide a little nourishment for the tree 
and protection for the expanding trunk, together with protection from cigarettes. 
Further protection can be carried out by providing seating round the trunk, so that 
old fogeys like me can rest.
Pop-up irrigation water pipes can be supplied from these water manholes currently in the pavements and they can be set to irrigate each section in rotation from 
Midnight to 06:00 in the morning. A dissolved mixture of seaweed, fully composted animal waste and fully worm composted human food waste from restaurants/hotels can be applied over a pavement an hour before that section is irrigated 3 times a year to provide the same fertilizer regime as practised by the gardeners at the Pestana Mirimar for that hotel's garden. The drained solids from the above fertilizer solution can be applied over the sand between the tree and the CEDAdrive.
An alternative to using marble pea-shingle is Topmix Permeable Concrete within the CEDAdrive slabs. This would perform the same function as the marble pea-shingle, but it may be cheaper and quicker to use in other pavements. The depth of the Cedadrive slabs might have to be increased if traffic is allowed to cross or park on this type of pavement surface.

166 trees in the pavements in a short section of a road in Funchal, Madeira are being slowly, starved, dehydrated, asphyxiated, poisoned by tarmac and concrete, burnt inside their hollow trunks, roots pounded by 40 ton lorries or shoes of pedestrians, and allowed to rot until killed off during February 2019 (see information in Problems with trees in pavements in Funchal, Madeira in January/February 2018 Page, which appears to have had no effect) as shown by my 433 photos in the following pages within the Home Topic:-

• Death of tree roots and
• Death of tree trunks/branches caused by people.
• Solution to problems for trees caused by people using irrigation -
  Growth of Pollarded Tree in Hotel Garden in 1 year provides a water solution to this destruction.
• Damage to Tree Trunks 1, 2, 3, 4 caused by people,
• Damage to Tree Roots caused by people,
• Area of Open Ground round trees,
• New Trees in pavements 1, 2,
• Irrigation of current trees,
• Watersprouts on trees,
• Crossing Branches in trees,
• Utility Equipment with tree Foliage,
• Lights on trees,
• Bycycle Lane in Pavement,
• Public Gardens alongside pavements,
• Hotel/Private Gardens alongside pavements,
• Current Permeable Pavement Surface round trees and
• Irrigation and Fertilising of trees.

Articles on

• Branch Collar (see Solutions to stop creating holes in trees above) and the importance of leaving all of it while cutting off that branch
• My repair to a 1300 year old yew tree in my church at the bottom of pages 1-12
• Some of my work on trees using a chainsaw and chipper-shredder on page 13
• Protective Dressing, Cavities and 'do not use plastic twine or wire to tie a plant' are at the bottom of pages 14-25 with Forked Leaders, also Terminal Bud and Dormant Branch Growth Bud.
  Details on Boron woodworm, wet and dry wood rot treatment on Page 16.
• Ways to install trees at the bottom of pages 26-37 includes the following on watering - "Throughout the warm, summer weather, the tree will need the equivalent of 1 inch (2.5 cm) of rain per week and this water needs to be applied about twice each week (My Comments - since this is over the entire root area of this tree - which is at least the radius from the trunk of the height of the tree - then if the CEDAdrive slabs are used, apply 0.5 inchs (1.25 cms) of irrigation twice a week to that entire area).  Approximately 5-10 gallons (20 – 40 liters) of water is sufficient to moisten a 20-inch (50 cm) diameter root ball.  A 40-inch (100 cm) diameter root ball has more than twice the volume and would require 35-45 gallons (130 – 170 liters). 
  Another way to measure water need is with the following formula:   The tree needs 5 gallons minimum and 5 additional gallons per inch of diameter (DBH); hence a 3 inch DBH tree needs 20 gallons of water per week to equal 1 inch of rainfall, in other words, 5 gallons minimum + (3 X 5) 15 gallons = 20 gallons."
• The Pruning and Maintenance of Mature Trees:
  • 'Lifting' or the removal of the lower branch systems,
  • Crown Thinning and
  • Crown Reduction
  • at the bottom of
    pages 38-45
• Explaination of watersprouts and watershoots in the Watersprouts on Trees in Pavements in Funchal, Madeira Page. These should be removed from the trees since they are weakly joined to the branch/trunk from which they originated and are dangerous to use as supports for electricians or tree surgeons; as well as likely to fall down in a storm.

List of Pictures in a Picture Folder:-

Plants and Plant Supports in Sissinghurst Castle Garden on 19 April 2013.

Plant supports are erected in the spring to support the plants growing from underneath them. When those plants die down in the autumn, then these minor supports are withdrawn leaving the support posts if these were used to attach the minor supports to. Other plant supports are created for climbers and erected on walls, fences and posts.
 

Page 1 of Plant Supports

Central climbing support in white garden IMG 2118.JPG

Chaenomeles x superba 'Knap Hill Scarlet' IMG 2135.JPG

Chaenomeles x superba 'Knap Hill Scarlet' IMG 2136.JPG.
Interferes with window opening.
Crossing branches.
Pruned to create long stumps instead of to a new or old branch.
Generous 1 horizontal wire support in brick row 23 from the ground tied to 3 nails hammered into the mortar between the rows.

Chaenomeles speciosa 'Sanguinea Plena' IMG 2002.JPG
Crossing branches.

Chaenomeles speciosa 'Sanguinea Plena' IMG 2003.JPG
Putting shrub branches between brick wall and metal downpipe could break the metal downpipe.
Only having 2 horizontal wire supports does not leave any vertical support between the 5 brick width between them to tie the branches to.

Chaenomeles speciosa 'Sanguinea Plena' IMG 2004.JPG

Clematis 'Asao' IMG 2044.JPG
Mulch missing. Juvenile red shhots of peony behind it.

Clematis montana 'Marjorie'
IMG 2017.JPG

Clematis montana 'Marjorie' support system IMG 2018.JPG
I provide you with the support system that I would have used on this climber, instead of the irregularly spaced horizontal wires, which were not used to effectively train this climber to give the best floral effects.

Climbing rose support next to pigeon loft IMG 2099.JPG
One could say that there is room for improvement, but a greater mistake I have yet to see.

hop. Humulus lupulus 'Fuggle' IMG 2092.JPG
The supporting strings are away from the hedge behind, so this hop should not interfere with it.

Page 2 Plants without Supports

Acaena millefolia IIMG 2052.JPG
I think it might be one of the Muscari, but not an Acaena

Acaena millefolia IMG 2053.JPG

Angelica archangelica IMG 2090.JPG

Arabis alpina 'Snowcap' IMG 2107.JPG

Butchers broom (Ruscus aculeatus)
IMG 2091.JPG

Camellia x williamsii 'J.C. Williams'
IMG 2102.JPG
Could do with mulching and perhaps a hard prune.

Camellia x williamsii 'J.C. Williams'
IMG 2103.JPG

Cistus x corbariensis IMG 2108.JPG

Cornus controversa 'Variegata'
IMG 2021.JPG
Instead of being trained, it has been left to its own devices.

Cornus controversa 'Variegata'
IMG 2020.JPG

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'
IMG 2045.JPG
Select its site carefully so that pruning will not be required

Page 3 Plants Without Supports

Daffodils at Sissinghurst
IMG 2095.JPG
List of single variety for beds, with varieties for pots and bowls, and for forcing

Daffodils at Sissinghurst
IMG 2096.JPG

Dianthus 'Musgraves Pink'
IMG 2122.JPG

Elaeagnus pungens maculata
IMG 2064.JPG

Elaeagnus pungens maculata
IMG 2066.JPG

Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket'
IMG 2005.JPG

Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket'
IMG 2006.JPG

Erysimum scoparias
IMG 2141.JPG

Erysimum scoparias
IMG 2142.JPG

Euphorbia myrsinites
IMG 2138.JPG

Euphorbia sikkimensis
IMG 2061.JPG

Page 4 Plants Without Supports

Forsythia IMG 2109.JPG

Galanthus 'Clare Blakeway-Phillips'
IMG 2124.JPG

Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'
IMG 2084.JPG

Gymnocarpium dryopteris
IMG 2035.JPG

Helleborus argutifolius
IMG 2110.JPG

Helleborus foetidus
IMG 2074.JPG

Helleborus foetidus
IMG 2075.JPG

Herb garden at Sissinghurst
IMG 2094.JPG

Ipheion uniflorum 'Wisley Blue'
IMG 2022.JPG

Ipheion uniflorum 'Wisley Blue'
IMG 2023.JPG

Irrigation tap
IMG 2046.JPG

Page 5 Plant Supports

Hydrangea anomala subsp.
petiolaris IMG 2015.JPG

Lonicera x brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet'
IMG 2069.JPG

Prunus x blireana
IMG 2031.JPG

Rosa bourbon 'Zigeunerknabe' with string support system
IMG 2036.JPG

Rosa centifolia 'Fantin Latour'
IMG 2025.JPG

Rosa centifolia 'Paul Ricault'
IMG 2032.JPG

Rosa climber 'Blossomtime'
IMG 2009.JPG

Rosa climber 'Blossomtime'
IMG 2010.JPG

Rosa climber 'Blossomtime'
IMG 2011.JPG

Rosa climbing 'Rose Mermaid'
IMG 2139.JPG

Rosa climbing 'Rose Mermaid'
IMG 2140.JPG

Page 6 Plants without Supports

Knautia macedonica pink form
IMG 2104.JPG

Lamium orvala
IMG_2051.JPG

Ligustrum japonicum rotundifolium
IMG 2078.JPG

Lilium regale
IMG 2121.JPG

Lupinus 'Blue Jacket'
IMG 2131.JPG

Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecraker'
IMG 2058.JPG

Magnolia denudata
IMG 2129.JPG

Mahonia japonica
IMG 2062.JPG

Muscari botryoides 'Album'
IMG 2116.JPG

Narcissus bulbocodium
IMG 2073.JPG

Osmanthus delavayi
IMG 2008.JPG

Page 7 Plants without Supports

Paeonia lactiflora 'Auguste Dessert'
IMG 2029.JPG

Paeonia lactiflora 'Auguste Dessert'
IMG 2030.JPG

Paeonia ludlowii
IMG 2055.JPG

Paeonia ludlowii
IMG 2054.JPG

Paeonia mlokosewitschii
IMG 2071.JPG

Paeonia 'White Wings'
IMG 2114.JPG

Paris polyphylla
IMG 2106.JPG

Phlomis russeliana
IMG 2056.JPG

Polystichum setiferum Divisilobum Group IMG 2050.JPG

Primula 'Barnhaven Yellow
'IMG 2059.JPG

Primula cowichan Amethyst Group
IMG 2001.JPG

Page 8 Plants without Supports

Primula 'Blue Sapphire'
IMG 2012.JPG

Primula 'Blue Sapphire'
IMG 2013.JPG

Primula elatoir
IMG 2125.JPG

Primula guinevere
IMG 2041.JPG

Primula guinevere
IMG 2042.JPG

Privet hedge bench in white garden
IMG 2119.JPG

Pulmonaria augustifolia 'Mawson's Blue'
IMG 2080.JPG

Pulmonaria augustifolia 'Mawson's Blue'
IMG 2081.JPG

Pulmonaria officinalis 'Sissinghurst White' IMG 2112.JPG

Pulmonaria officinalis 'Sissinghurst White' IMG 2113.JPG

Pulmonaria rubra
IMG 2082.JPG

Page 9 Plants without Supports

Pulmonaria saccharata 'Fruhlingshimmel' IMG 2040.JPG

Pulmonaria saccharata 'Fruhlingshimmel' IMG 2039.JPG

Pulsatilla officinalis 'Pasque Flower'
IMG 2089.JPG

Rhododendron oreotrephes
IMG 2126.JPG

Rhododendron oreotrephes
IMG 2127.JPG

Rhododendron oreotrephes
IMG 2128.JPG

Rosa gallica 'Duchesse de Montebello'
IMG 2037.JPG

Rosa moyesii
IMG 2097.JPG

Rosa 'Roxburgs' with chipped wood mulch IMG 2098.JPG

Sanguinaria canadensis
IMG 2120.JPG

Schizostylis coccinea 'Alba'
IMG 2115.JPG

Page 10 Plant Supports

Rosa damask 'Ispahan'
IMG 2028.JPG

Rosa damask 'Ispahan'
IMG 2027.JPG

Rosa 'Wolley Dod' with string supports
IMG 2038.JPG

Rose supported on dead tree
IMG 2101.JPG

Rose tripod support system
IMG 2034.JPG

Sweet peas with branch support system IMG_2134.JPG
Stock Fencing attached to wall to support climber. It has moss growing on the wall beneath it, because it has no air gap between it and the wall when the climber is attached.

Twiggy Support System
IMG 2133.JPG

Page 11 Plants without Supports

Spring flowering bulbs
IMG 2047.JPG

Spring flowering bulbs
IMG 2048.JPG

Spring flowering bulbs
IMG 2049.JPG
Note the damage done by frost to earthenware pot. It can be waterproofed to stop this damage in future.

Tansy tanacetum vulgare
IMG 2093.JPG

Trillium sessile
IMG 2083.JPG

Trillium sessile
IMG 2085.JPG

Tulipa 'Diana' and
Brimeura amethystina 'Alba'
IMG 2111

Tulipa 'Maureen'
IMG 2117.JPG

Tulipa 'Orange Emperor'
IMG 2076.JPG

Tulipa 'Orange Emperor'
IMG 2077.JPG

Veronica longifolia 'Fascination'
IMG 2105.JPG

Page 12 Plants without Supports

Veratrum nigrum
IMG 2086.JPG

Veratrum nigrum
IMG 2087.JPG

What gardening team do at Sissinghurst IMG 2143.JPG

Page 13 Recommended Rose Pruning Methods

Rosa - it displays 3 distinct habits of growth and flowering.

Pruning related to Growth and Flowering (I give the pages within each of the sections for the roses in that section, which are detailed in those pages by Peter Beales Roses - An illustrated encyclopedia and grower's handbook of species roses, old roses and modern roses, shrub roses and climbers by Peter Beales. First published in 1992 by Harvill. ISBN 0-00-272178-3):-

• Subgenus Hulthemia
• Subgenus Hesperhodos
• Subgenus Eurosa has the following Sections:-
  • 1 Pimpinellifoliae
  • 2 Gallicanae
  • 3 Caninae
  • 4 Carolinae
  • 5 Cinnamomeae
  • 6 Synstylae
  • 7 Indicae
  • 8 Banksianae
  • 9 Laevigatae
  • 10 Bracteatae

Plant Labelling - A suggestion for plant labelling to help visitors

A different solution is that each gardening member of the RHS staff at Wisley be provided with Large White Plastic Angled-Head Labels which are 20 inches (50 cms) in height with a 6 x 4 inch (16 x 10 cms) writing surface and a Marker pen with Black ink to provide a good temporary label for the above broken label (in Lost Flowers page) or for missing labels.
Then, the black background permanent label could be ordered at the end of that working day to replace this temporary label, which has been inserted into the ground in front of the relevant plant section.

If you are concerned about these labels going on "Walkabout", then insert another white label behind the plant and make it invisible to the public.

Site design and content copyright ©August 2019.
Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a
courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are
not responsible for the content and/or quality of external
web sites linked from this site.  

Ivydene Gardens Photo Sissinghurst Plants Gallery:
Page 6 has photos of Plants without Supports from the
apr 19 sissinghurst Folder in Sissinghurst Castle Garden taken on 19 April 2013.

Photos taken by Chris Garnons-Williams using a digital camera
in the original size and as a thumbnail.
These can used in the Public Domain for educational purposes
in schools, or at home, to:-

• Assist in selecting a plant.
• assist in designing your garden for the overall structure to
  provide you with mystery so that no point of the garden is
  always visible from other points of the garden to persuade
  you to go outside and look round that corner to see what
  is happening there now,
• assist in selecting areas of the garden for different seasons
  and different uses - spring bulbs in this area, vegetable
  garden in this one leading to a pond etc,
• in the shape of different plants to provide variety instead of
  regimented single shape and single height shrubs, which
  in effect turn into a uniform hedge with possibly different
  foliage colour. This becomes very difficult to maintain as
  these shrubs/trees etc simply intertwine together,
• create areas to be used like a solid effect surface for a
  wheelchair with raised boxes for plants so that the wheelchair
  owner's knees can go under them and he/she can garden
  whilst still in the wheelchair. Also he/she can use a remote
  control to operate cars on this ground surface and race them
  around under these raised beds of ponds, flowers, fruit and
  vegetables with his friends, or
• assist in providing areas to sit down in the garden to have
  a barbeque, a chat with your spouse or simply admire your garden.

Row 1 has the Pass-Through Camera image of Thumbnail image named in Row 2
and is usually 4000 x 3000 pixels.

Row 2 has same image reduced to fit the image frame of 160 x 120 pixels as a
Passthrough Thumbnail to show all of the Camera Image. This image has been
reduced to 72 pixels per inch by Freeway before I stored it as a Passthrough image
for use both here (from August 2019) and as the image in
Plant with Photo Index of Ivydene Gardens A 1 Gallery.

Click on either image and drag to your desktop.
Then you can crop the Pass-Through Camera image to obtain the particular detail
that you require from that image, before using that cropped result in your endeavour.

Copying the pages and then clicking on the images to drag them may not work.

Plant without Supports of
Knautia macedonica pink form IMG 2104.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Lamium orvala IMG_2051.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Ligustrum japonicum rotundifolium IMG 2078.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Lilium regale IMG 2121.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Lupinus 'Blue Jacket' IMG 2131.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecraker' IMG 2058.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Magnolia denudata IMG 2129.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Mahonia japonica IMG 2062.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Muscari botryoides 'Album' IMG 2116.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Narcissus bulbocodium IMG 2073.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

Plant without Supports of
Osmanthus delavayi IMG 2008.JPG
taken on 19 April 2013 at Sissinghurst Castle Garden by Chris Garnons-Williams

I have copied the archived post below, because what is stated there is extremely important, since 99.99% of
gardeners in the UK totally ignore the fact that plants require humus and think that double-digging is beneficial
every year. That is why they are killing their soil and their plants do not grow well.

How Soil Works in the Category Archives: Flowering House Plants of Houseplantsguru. com:-

"Nature’s plan is to build up the humus year after year and this can only be done by organic matter. There is need
to replace and return that which has been taken out. The Chinese, who are the best gardeners, collect, ‘use’, and
return to the soil, every possible kind of waste, vegetable, animal and human. In over 4000 years of intensive
cultivation they still support more human beings per hectare than any other country in the world! On the other
hand in areas like the Middle West of the U.S.A. And the Regina Plain of Canada, where the Wheel of Life has not
been recognized, tens of thousands of hectares which once grew heavy crops are now useless, or practically so.

Every flower crop grown reduces the organic content of the ground. Every piece of work done helps to break down
the humus. The value of the soil in your garden, therefore, is not the mica particles or grains of sand. It lies in the
humus that the soil contains. Humus makes all the difference to successful gardening. Have plenty of humus
present and the soil is in good tilth. Humus is the organic colloid of the soil. It can store water, it can store plant
foods, it can help to keep the soil open. It can help to ensure the right aeration. It will give ideal insulation against
heat and cold.

Using Compost

Garden owners proposing to dig their land shallowly in preparation for flower growing, should realize the
importance of adding ample quantities of organic matter before they start. Composted farmyard manure, fine
wool shoddy, properly composted vegetable refuse, or hop manure should be added at the rate of one good
barrow-load to 10 m2 (12 sq yds) and in addition into the top 25 or 50 mm (1 or 2 in) of soil finely divided sedge
peat, non-acid in character should be raked in at about half a bucketful (9 litres) per square metre (2 gallons per
sq yd). This organic matter in the top few millimetres of soil gives the little roots a good start and so sends them
on to find the organic matter below.

It is when the organic content of the soil has been helped in this way, that the gardener dares to add plant foods
of an organic origin. These are usually applied on the surface of the ground and raked in. Fertilizers with an
organic base are particularly useful. Fish Manure may be applied at 105 to 140 g/m2 (3 oz to 4 oz per sq yd), or a
meat and bone meal or even hoof and horn meal mixed with equal quantities of wood ashes may be used at a
similar rate. These plant foods can be supplied not only when the flower garden is first made but every season
very early in the spring. A good dried poultry manure to which a little potash has been added is another fertilizer
that is very useful when applied at this time.

Minimum Digging

Flower growers must realize that proper soil treatment is the first essential to success. The millions and millions
of soil bacteria that live in the ground to help the gardener, much appreciate little or no digging. It enables
them to work better, for they need conditions which are natural. So do give them what they need.

Liming

Lime should be regarded as an essential except in very definite cases where acidity is demanded, e.g. the
heaths and heathers, rhododendrons and azaleas.

Lime not only prevents soil from being acid but it ‘sweetens’ it, as well as playing its part as a plant food.
It improves the texture and workability of heavy soils. It helps to release other plant foods, and it
decomposes organic compounds in the soil so that they can be used as plant food also.

Generally speaking it should be applied at about 245 g/m2 (7 oz per sq yd). It should not be dug in, as it
washes down into the soil very quickly. It should be sprinkled on the surface of the ground after the digging
and manuring has been done. Do not mix lime with organic fertilizers. There are three main types of lime:
Quicklime, sometimes sold as Buxton Lime or Lump Lime, which has to be slaked down on the soil;
Chalk or Limestone, often sold as Ground Limestone, only half as valuable as quicklime; and
Hydrated Lime, which is perhaps the most convenient to handle and is therefore most usually used by gardeners.
The quantity of lime mentioned previously i.e. 245 g/m2 (7 oz per sq yd), refers to hydrated lime."
 

The following is the opinion of Chris Garnons-Williams to the above:-

If you walk through an old wooded area, which is not intensively managed, you will see dead leaves on the
ground, together with fallen branches, brambles, nettles, other weeds and juvenile plants. There will be
waste material from birds and animals and this has not been cleared up and disposed of. This mulch then
provides the organic material to be recycled via the ground with its different organisms to the roots of those
same trees for them to continue to grow.
Nobody digs up the ground to push this material in a few inches or to the depth of the topsoil, nature does it
with earthworms and other organisms at the rate required by the organisms down below to then use it. The
trees in this wood then grow fairly uniformly using the available resources.

So, do not dig the manure, wool shoddy, vegetable refuse or hop manure or anything else in. Leave it on top
as a mulch and that includes the organic fertilizers and the lime.
Instead of adding finely divided sedge peat, add spent mushroom compost which contains peat which has
already been used; and so you are using their waste product for recycling, instead of destroying more peat
bogs which have taken 1000's of years to be created. You could use bracken instead of peat.

The topsoil is full of organisms, either the waste products from are used by another or they are. If you turn
them up from the bottom of the topsoil to the top, then those new top ones will starve to death and the ones
who were at the top are now at the bottom and they will as well since it is only waste down there which is
not their normal fare. They do have a bus transport system to get them back to their original levels, since water
is the only transport system down there, which unfortunately normally goes downwards.

So why do you not use the companion planting cultivation method as further detailed in Companion Planting?
You may follow this with the following which is normally used for the vegetable garden:-

"Spinach is sown in spring in rows 50cm apart over the whole vegetable garden area for the following
purposes:

• these rows divide the vegetable garden up for the whole year,
• the spinach roots prevent erosion, so the usual paths between beds are omitted,
• young spinach plants provide protection and shade for the vegetable crops to be grown between them,
• spinach provides ideal material for sheet surface composting, which becomes an intermediate space, a footpath, and
• it is in between these lines of spinach that the other vegetable varieties are arranged."

This could be used in the flower beds as the system between the permanent plants of trees, shrubs
and perennials, which is where you may put bedding. This will also provide you with access to the bedding
and the permanent plants together with the nitrogen fertilizer for the other plants from the legumes of
spinach.
You plant your bedding, bulbs or vegetables through the mulch between the lines of spinach. The damage you
do to where you plant is fairly quickly repaired by the organisms in the surrounding soil, who each come into
the level below the ground level where they normally reside, until they meet their relatives on the other side of
the planting hole. The ecosystem is then restored.