Wham bamboo

BAMBOO has been popular in gardens for years, but only as a dried-up stick used to support dahlias, sweet peas and the like. Now a huge variety of live bamboos are available to gardeners, from dwarf species used as ground cover to giants that tower above the rest of the plants, sharp new growth shooting upwards in late spring and early summer.

My first experience with bamboo was a few years ago when a friend gave me a small, nameless specimen for my birthday. It had slender green and pale brown stems from which came tufts of short, thin stems each carrying willow-like green leaves.

I knew nothing of bamboos, save for their invasive reputation. It was planted in a large dark blue glazed pot, where it has grown ever since and has now formed a large clump of delicate canes about 3m/10ft high covered in evergreen leaves.

Left to its own devices, it would, I think, quickly fill the container with a thick mass of stems. So I have thinned it out annually and created a 'see-through' screen of stems that move gracefully in the slightest of breezes.

Last spring, I acquired another member of the bamboo family, Arundinaria auricoma, now named Pleioblastus viridistriatus, for a partially shaded site between a holly tree and Buddleia davidii.

This bamboo is a slow spreading type that will, according to the label, form a dense clump of broad yellow and green striped leaves about 1m/3ft tall. Perfect for growing with the Hydrangea paniculata, foxgloves and echinacea that are already in place and which, together, in a couple more years will give a long season of colour from snowdrops in January to late flowering perennials in September.

Bamboos are generally undemanding and will grow in most positions, although they are best sheltered from foliage-damaging wind. They will usually grow in sun or shade, although those with variegated foliage do best with at least some sun during the day while those with delicate leaves may need shade from strong noon and early afternoon sun.

Bamboos thrive in rich moist soil that gets neither waterlogged nor dries out completely, especially in summer. Those grown in containers need to be watered daily in spring and summer and even in winter if there has been a dry spell.

They will also need to be fed with slow release fertiliser sprinkled over the surface of the soil in spring or with a weekly application of liquid feed during the growing season.

Garden talks

Askham Bryan College (ABC) Gardening Club has a busy schedule of talks arranged for the next couple of months, including one in March by the horticulturist, author and TV and Radio personality Roy Lancaster.

David Ray from Deans Garden Centre kicks off the events with a talk on garden ponds and plants on Tuesday February 8 in the Conference Hall at Askham Bryan College.

The talk begins at 7.30pm with admission free to ABC Gardening Club members and £4 on the door to non-members. A talk on woodland gardens by Mark Fisher follows on Tuesday February 22, venue and admission details as above.

On Tuesday March 8, Lancaster will give a talk entitled Where Our Garden Plants Come From. The talk will take place in the Conference Hall at the College starting at 7.30pm as usual, admission free to ABC Gardening Club members, £5 for non-members.

Tickets must be bought in advance by sending a cheque made payable to 'Askham Bryan College Gardening Club' together with a stamped addressed return envelope to Askham Bryan College Gardening Club, 27 Ebor Way, Nether Poppleton, York, YO26 6UN. Please note that members will also need tickets. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Annual hollyhock returns

SEED company Thompson and Morgan has reintroduced a dwarf Hollyhock in its 2005 Seed Catalogue.

Hollyhock 'Majorette Mixed' will, the company claims, produce flowers in the first year even when sown directly into the soil in April and grows up to 90cm/36ins tall. It should be treated as a half hardy annual and sown outside in April, under glass during February and March or under glass in September and October. An autumn sowing should give flowers in early summer the following year.

Majorette Mixed produces double and semi-double blooms in shades of pink and yellow and costs £1.99 for 80 seeds from Thompson and Morgan stockists or directly from the company.

For a free copy of the 2005 Thompson and Morgan Seed Catalogue call 01473 695224.

SCARCROFT and District Allotments and Amateur Gardeners' Association is holding its AGM on Wednesday at 7pm at Southlands Methodist Church, Southlands Road, York. There will be displays and a stall with seeds and gardening supplies and a chance to order seed potatoes. At 7.30pm, there will be a talk about the history of Hob Moor, followed by the AGM.

Gardening TV and radio

Sunday, January 31

9am, Radio Leeds, Joe Maiden with Tim Crowther. Gardening tips.

Noon, Radio York, William Jenkyns.

2pm, R4, Gardeners' Question Time. From south Wales with Eric Robson, Anne Swithinbank, John Cushnie and Bob Flowerdew. The Gardening Weather Forecast is at 2.25pm.

Monday

8.30pm, BBC1, Ground Force. In the first of a new series, Tommy Walsh and Charlie Dimmock have ambitious plans for a garden in Hull.

Monday-Friday

3pm, BBC2, Garden Invaders. The team travel around the country to sort out neglected gardens.

Friday

8pm, BBC2, How To Be A Gardener Revisited. Alan Titchmarsh rescues an overgrown mixed border he created in 2001.

Updated: 08:53 Saturday, January 29, 2005