GINA PARKINSON has grown to love the contorted hazel with his twisted trunk and ringlets of branches

WHAT a strange day we had last Sunday, from warm sunshine through to showers of ice-hard hailstones, only to be greeted on Monday morning by heavy frost and misty air.

Still our gardens have taken on their spring coats with blossom trees in flower and budding promise of more about the beds and borders.

The contorted hazel in our garden is strung with catkins that catch late afternoon sun. I have grown to love this little tree with its twisted trunk and ringlets of branches.

Later in spring it will be covered in rough dark green leaves, nestled among which there may be a few hazelnuts later in the year.

We keep our tree quite small, a couple of metres or so tall, clearing the trunk of any growth and trimming the canopy regularly to keep it in check. I should think it would grow rather taller if allowed, wayward stems travel skyward if left unattended.

Around the base of this hazel are the palest cream primroses and small daffodils in spring. They give a cheerful show for several weeks before the blue campanula which abounds in this garden takes over.

The specimen by the tree is too tall, but I haven’t yet got around to moving it so the stems grow up and up into the spiralled branches above through which peep lavender blue bells in summer. I really must take my own advice and make a new place among other tall herbaceous perennials for this campanula.

 

Hedges

WE HAVE a leylandii hedge towards the end of the garden separating our garden from that of our neighbour. I know there will be sighs all round for this maligned plant which can grow to a huge size if allowed.

However, looked after properly it does provide a fast-growing, dense, evergreen screen and a home for numerous insects.

Ours usually gets its first cut towards the end of March then a couple more in summer. It hasn’t yet been home to nesting birds, but it is always a good idea to check before trimming any hedge especially if the winter has been as mild as we have had this year.

This hedge is kept fairly narrow; it is only around half a metre wide, and less than two metres tall. I can trim without having to stand on a ladder and with an electric trimmer the job can be done quickly. The best shape for any hedge is for it to be slightly wider at the base than the top to allow light to all parts.

This works well for a traditionally shaped barrier hedge such as leylandii, although the main consideration for this species of tree is to keep it in check through its growing period hence the necessity for a minimum of three trims in spring and summer.

We inherited the leylandii when we bought the garden, but on the opposite side of the plot I have begun a new mixed hedge. This is made up of seedlings found around the garden, hazel, cotoneaster and holly together with a few larger plants bought from York market and a local nursery. These include Photinia, berberis and Portugese laurel.

This latter plant can grow very large but like the leylandii will respond to regular trimming eventually developing a thick trunk with a network of small foliage bearing stems.

The infant hedge is in its second year and is still just a line of individuals gradually coming together.

One or two will reach the required height this summer and can be topped off but it will be a few more years before a hedge equivalent to the leylandii has been fashioned.

 

In the veg garden

The first rhubarb has been pulled. New growth popped through the ground in February enjoying the balmy early spring.

The two plants we have in the veg plot – Timperley Early and Victoria, are both coming into their third summer and are bulking up well.

The spot is perhaps a bit too sunny for them in our dry soil but a thick mulch of garden compost put around the crown of the plant in autumn and early spring seems to be keeping them happy.

If the summer is dry and hot again they will be soaked and mulched again should they begin to flag in June or July.

 

National Gardening Week

TWO gardening experts from York are lending their support to National Gardening Week which runs from Monday April 14 to Sunday April 20. It has been launched by the Royal Horticultural Society to get the nation growing.

Garden owner Vanessa Cook and vegetable gardening expert Tony Chalcraft will available at Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens and Nurseries near York to answer questions and provide hints and tips on how to make the most of your garden. This free event takes place on Wednesday, April 16, between 10am and midday with refreshments available from the café.

Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens & Nurseries is on Stewart Lane, Stillingfleet, York, YO19 6HP. For more information call 01904 728506 or visit stillingfleetlodgenurseriesco.uk

 

Gardening TV and radio

Tomorrow

7am, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Monty Don pots up dahlia tubers, Joe Swift visits a garden on a rocky cliff face in Lancashire and Carol Klein celebrates the daffodil. 8am, BBC Radio Humberside, The Great Outdoors. With Blair Jacobs and Doug Stewart.

9am, BBC Radio York, Julia Lewis. News and features from gardens in North Yorkshire.

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tm Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Pippa Greenwood, Matt Biggs, Chris Beardshaw and chairman Eric Robson advise gardeners from Nottinghamshire.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Today’s show comes from The Edible Garden Show held this at Alexandra Palace in London. This annual event features celebrity speakers, advice and demonstrations. GQT chairman Eric Robson is joined by panellists Bunny Guinness, Chris Beardshaw and Bob Flowerdew.

8.30pm, BBC2, Gardeners’ World. Monty Don overhauls ornamental grasses, Rachel de Thame visits a hydrangea collection in Cornwall and Carol Klein checks on the progress of her novice gardeners.