After recently visiting several historic gardens, I was tempted to re-write the scene from Life of Brian where shouts of protest went up exclaiming: “What did the Romans ever do for us?”.
I think it should be “What did the Victorians ever do for us?”.
An awful lot it seems – especially in the world of horticulture. Those on the top and even in the middle of the pile had the time, the money and the interest to not only travel the globe in search of new species: they had a highly developed industrial base to fall back on in order to develop impressive greenhouses and methods to buffer them against British frosts.
Kew gardens probably have the best-known examples of this but on the South Coast there are the gardens of Arundel Castle to fire up one’s imagination. There are hundreds of examples like this dotted throughout the country.
It is worth knowing too, that a great number of the plant species that you find in garden centres originate from foreign shores and were discovered with plenty of blood, sweat and tears. Magnolias, Wisteria, Hostas and Bergenias are, for example, all native to different parts of Asia.
Knowing where a plant comes from can help in its care: a bit like knowing where your food comes from, it can help with your appreciation and understanding. If you ever find yourself bored, then look up some of the stories of Victorian plant hunters roaming the globe. Truly Ripping Yarns!
In the meantime, there is plenty to be getting on with this month:
• Mulch around the base of trees and shrubs if you haven’t done so already: this will help retain the moisture and keep the annual weeds at bay.
• Cut back early flowering perennials such as delphiniums, lupins and oriental poppies after their first flowering. This will give them a chance to flower again on the new growth.
• Cutting down the stems of the spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils.
• Cutting and clipping Privet, box and evergreen honeysuckle hedges (Lonicera nitida)
• Philadelphus, Kolkwitzia, Weigela and Deutzia can all be pruned after they have flowered. In doing so the new growth will have time to develop in order that they may flower the following year.
• Give Clematis montana a good hacking if needed when they are over (they can take it!) and tie in other climbers.
• Remove stems of any variegated plants that are reverting to their original colour or the whole plant will ‘revert’.
• Stake tall herbaceous plants: purpose made metal, or canes can be used but equally good are off cuts from beech or similar trees. They are less visible, look more natural and have an attractive shape.
• Give ailing plants a shot of liquid feed as that is the best way to give them a lift.
• Evergreens such as Viburnum tinus and Choisya can also be cut and shaped once they have flowered.
• Roses can be deadheaded to encourage repeat flowering when they fade. Do this by cutting just above the first leaf below the faded bloom.
• Raise the blade level of your mower in dry spells to reduce stress and make the grass less likely to go brown. No mowing at all is even better!
• Top up water levels in ponds using rainwater if possible.
If going out to China armed with quinine, butterfly nets and specimen trays seems a bit ambitious then looking up the origins of the plants in your garden may suffice. The slightly ambiguous sentiments one might hold concerning the Victorians may not be completely altered, but they will certainly become more highly coloured!