Jell-O
03.05.2024 - 14:25 / irishtimes.com / Fionnuala Fallon
This week’s Q&A has prompted me to sing the praises of wall shrubs, that group of plants that usefully straddle the common ground between true climbers (plants with lax stems that twist and weave their way upwards, using walls or the branches of other plants as a scaffold) and traditional woody ornamental shrubs.
Trained against a wall or sturdy fence by dint of thoughtful pruning and a system of lateral galvanised wires, to which their young branches are gently tied, they can be used to give a valuable sense of year-round-structure, heft and permanence to even the tiniest outdoor spaces. Wall-trained shrubs also offer the opportunity to grow species that might otherwise be too large and sprawling for a small garden, as well as those that need a particularly sheltered spot, with protection from damaging frosts and cold winds.
Examples that come to mind include the magnificent Magnolia grandiflora, or bull bay as it’s commonly known. Blooming in early summer, this glorious species is prized for its huge, pale, fragrant, cupped flowers and giant evergreen leaves, the underneath of which are covered in the softest brown fuzz.
[ Your gardening questions answered: How should I plant up my new flower beds? ]
Planted as a normal freestanding specimen, it will eventually become a sizeable tree and needs plenty of horizontal space to flex its muscles, slowly reaching a height and spread of up to 15m. But a wall-trained specimen can be kept much more compact, and is a magnificent sight when grown neatly against a high sunny wall where the latter acts as a simple but effective storage heater, as well as the perfect backdrop to its statuesque beauty.
This outstanding species of magnolia is just one of many kinds of large
If you love something, make it flat—that’s how the saying goes, right? When it comes to flat croissants, at least, that’s definitely the case. We all know (and love) the classic flaky croissant, but bakeries and home chefs have taken the pastry to new heights (or lows?) by flattening it and frying it to make it even crispier.
As someone who shivers at the thought of a chilly breeze, I’m well and truly done with our long, wet, cold spring. So much so, that I find myself daydreaming of brilliant sunshine, blue skies and warm breezes.
How to Plant and Grow Parris Island Cos Lettuce Lactuca sativa ‘Parris Island Cos’
Last month, the job listings page for the American Climate Corps went live. The ACC is a new program developed by the Biden administration that plans to mobilize young people into careers fighting climate change and environmental injustice. These roles span the country and both private and public sectors. Like other corps-type jobs, these roles will be term limited.
There are certain nuggets of good garden advice, so counterintuitive that they seem to make absolutely no sense at all. Why on earth, for example, should we pinch out the growing tip of a perfectly healthy seedling or plant stem as a way of encouraging it to fatten up? “Leggy”, after all, is usually a term of admiration rather than opprobrium. Likewise, why would pruning back perfectly healthy shrubs — essentially cutting away their lovely strong shoots and branches- possibly make them bushier and more floriferous when surely it should result in the exact opposite? In the same vein, why is it a good idea to shear back lavender plants that are only just beginning to fluff up again after a long, dark and dismal winter? And what, oh what, is the Chelsea chop, which sounds to the uninitiated like some form of plant abuse?
With basils, we always think about a stubby plant that’s growing in a small pot on a sunny windowsill. What if we tell you that it can be trained to grow like a 4-6 feet tall specimen? Sounds impossible? Well, it’s not!
41 of the Best Pink Peonies for Your Garden
<use xlink:href="#trending-icon" xmlns:xlink=«http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink»> Trending Videos