A shrub may be defined as a perennial woody plant, branching naturally from its base without a defined leader (a single main shoot), and not normally exceeding 10m (30ft) high. Shrubs may be deciduous or evergreen and range from plants […]

Sweet Corn Zea mays rugosa is known as sweet corn. This cereal is a native of America and is boiled as a vegetable. The John Innes hybrid varieties remain popular, but `Kelvedon Glory’ is a newer introduction of merit. In […]

Celeriac This is a variety of celery forming a swollen root which may be used and eaten raw in salads, or cooked for soups and flavoring. The stem can be cooked in the same way as seakale and, unlike celery, […]

Pruning ornamentals Ornamental shrubs and trees by no means all require pruning; certainly not regularly. A number profit from it, however, even though they may survive without it. Pruning ornamentals is simply a matter of assisting them to appear at […]

Grass seed for lawns Of the 150-160 grass species found in England, but only about six are used for lawns. Proprietary lawn seed mixtures consist of the merchant’s special mixes of some or all of these seeds and are sold […]

Grafting The need for grafting arises from the fact that very many plants will not propagate reliably from cuttings. Nurserymen also find that they can raise more plants more quickly by using standard rootstocks. Grafting of plants appeals to many […]

Few gardeners do not at some time or another have the urge to grow plants in a greenhouse. It extends the range of plants that can be grown so that those too tender for our winter climate can be cultivated […]

Bulb cultivation Botanically, bulbs are buds, commonly subterranean, producing roots from their undersides, and consisting of layers of fleshy rudimentary leaves, called scales, attached to abbreviated stems. There is considerable uncertainty in the minds of many gardeners as to the […]

Spent hops The residue after hops have been extracted with water in the brewery is usually sold to haulage contractors who supply commercial growers with the entire output from many breweries and in consequence, the amounts available for gardeners are […]

There are two kinds of plant that we bring into our houses. The more spectacular are the flowering plants, cyclamen, azaleas or African violets. Unfortunately their season of attractiveness is limited. All too soon the flowers will fade and the […]