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I’m here to help with yourgardening conundrums

WITH the current lockdownin place, much has beenwritten of the benefits ofgardening for our physicaland mental wellbeing.Many people who normally

do not have time forgardening are discoveringthe joys of spending time innature as well as the feelingof satisfaction on completinga project in the gardenhowever small it may be.The more ambitious are

perhaps undertaking anoverhaul of their wholegardens, others maybe justa certain area, and I suspectthe majority will be growingmore fresh produce thisseason.Here at Green Island

Gardens, I always have a listof ongoing projects as wellas future ones, which sadlyfor the moment have all beenput on hold as we have hadto furlough nearly all ourworkers. I am always happyto answer questions fromreaders of my column, andeach week over the comingmonths I will answer aselection of questions I havereceived, hopefully givingadvice that may be relevant toothers as well.The onslaught of storms

this season has beenrelentless and after theweekend I was sad to seethat one of the first Acerpalmatum trees that Iplanted in 1997 in one of themain beds had blown out ofthe ground and was lyinghorizontally across what wecall the Hot Bed.Last autumn a third of the

tree had come away at thebase and fallen in one of themany storms, so I cannot sayI was totally surprised whenI saw the rest of the tree hadsuccumbed this week. I amalways sad at the loss of sucha mature plant, and I hurry toclear it away… “out of sight,out of mind”.As soon as it has been

cleared away I start to see thepossibilities of what I mightreplace it with and get quiteexcited. My decision-makingprocess goes into overdrive.I do have a collection of newspecial Daphne bholuas I havemanaged to get hold of whichwould thrive in this position,however there are already 2evergreen shrubs either side,an Osmanthus delavayi whichis covered in its beautifully

scented white flowers at themoment, and on the other sideViburnum tinus ‘Gwenellian’.In addition the Acer was

placed at the end of the bedas a structural element,and so its replacementneeds to recreate that shapeand form if possible. Onbalance I think it will be aHamamelis that replacesit. From the main vista wesee the pale yellow H. xintermedia ‘Pallida’ in theCotinus Bed and the new onewill be visible behind that,so I am thinking perhaps ared flowered one. I have achoice of H. x intermedia‘Hiltingbury’, or ‘Twilight’,both additions to the NationalCollection this year waitingfor their permanent homes.The lovely spreading shapeshould be just perfect and theautumn foliage colour will bejust as good as the Acer was. Imay yet decide to take out theViburnum tinus ‘Gwenellian’as well and replace it with anew Daphne.Of all the Viburnums this

one seems to be attacked themost by Viburnum Beetle andrather than use any harmfulpesticides I prefer to replacewith a different plant that willbe pest and disease resistant.Time will tell!’Gardeners are in general

far too precious about any

●Plantswoman FionaEdmond owns GreenIsland Gardens in

Ardleigh. Today in herweekly column she talksabout how we can make themost of having more timeon our hands to work on thegarden

■ Good choice - Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Hiltingbury’

■ Huge potential - the space left by the fallen Acer■ Heady scented- Osmanthusdelavayi

plant that is growing in theirgardens. When we purchase anew home, we think nothingof ripping out the existingkitchen or bathroom simply ifit is not to our taste, howeverwith new gardens we seem toemploy the opposite tactics...rescue and save every plant atall costs even if it looks sick,lopsided, flowers only for 1week a year etc etc.Maybe it’s human nature to

try and save any living thing,but for me there is nothingworse than having to look atplants that look sick or arenot thriving.This enforced lockdown

provides the perfectopportunity to really take a

critical look at your gardenand get rid of any plants thatare not worth their space.People dread having a

gap or being able to see intonext door’s garden, evenif it is just for a short timewhilE any new plantingestablishes which is so shortsighted. Now is the perfecttime to completely clear anovergrown shrub border forexample. Even if some areworth saving they may benefitfrom being pruned really hardto reduce their size allowingfor other more exciting plantsto be added.Please send in pictures of

areas you are thinking ofrenovating, plants you are not

sure what to do with, or areasyou want some inspirationfor. Remember to provide asmuch information as possiblesuch as soil, aspect, drainageetc and I will answer as manyas possible and include aselection in my next column.Send to fionaedmond7@aol.comWe are also providing a

delivery service for plantorders at this time, just emailvia the website with a list ofplants you would like, and wewill arrange courier serviceor you may collect yourself.For further information and

lists of plants available, visitwww.greenislandgardens.co.uk

28 Friday April 10, 2020 www.echo-news.co.ukEcho