With so much information around in gardening it's no wonder things sometimes don't come out quite right. Here are eight urban myths in gardening
Agapanthus need to be pot-bound or they
won't flower
Nope! Agapanthus flower very well in
the garden, large clumps often bearing dozens of fabulous flower
heads for weeks in the summer. The secret to success with Agapanthus
is good life- good rich soil, enough water during the summer
(although not too much during the winter) and plenty of sunshine. The
myth that Agapanthus need to be pot-bound probably stemmed from a
misunderstanding; Agapanthus flower better when they've made a
clump- dividing your Agapanthus into small chunks won't help it
flower. Plant your Agapanthus out in the right spot and then leave
it!
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| Perfectly happy in the garden- Agapanthus inapertus 'Sky' |
Nerines want to bake in hot, dry and
poor soil
Nope! Not sure where this has come
from; Nerines are happiest in good garden soil with good drainage
(but not dust dry!) and with plenty of sunshine, here
they will bulk up beautifully. The larger the bulb the better the
flower display. This myth might have come from Holland, where bulbs
are treated with hot water to stress them into flowering when the
bulb is too small- this is all well and good for bulb merchants, but
in the garden it is better to focus on building up the bulbs
naturally for long term benefits.
You should water your plants every day
until they're established
Hmmm, no.... Although this is rooted in
common sense, it is generally reckoned to be better practice to water
your new plants really well 2-3 times a week (normally twice a
week, three times a week if it's very hot and dry) instead of a
little and often. The sense behind this is that a few good soaks
encourages the plant's roots to grow down and search for water,
whereas watering a little and often encourages roots to stay near the
surface (and makes the plant more susceptible to stress during dry
weather).
Shallow pots drain better
NO! Garden books will tell you to put a
nice layer of crocks (bits of broken pots/flat stones) at the bottom
of the pot for drainage, but in fact current thinking is that a
drainage layer at the base of the pots might do more harm than good.
Compost is much like a sponge; if you saturate a sponge and then let
it drain you will be left with a saturated layer at the base of the
sponge, while the top has dried out. The same happens in a pot, but
the drainage layer pushes that layer of saturated compost closer to
the roots. If you want to get your compost to drain then pick
tall/deep pots which keep the saturated layer of compost further away
from your plant's roots. Often if you remove a nursery grown plant
from it's pot you will find that the roots aren't quite as keen to
fill the bottom centimetre or so of the pot, and it's because of this
layer of saturated compost!
Add lots of grit to improve drainage on
clay soils
Nope! This old wisdom can spell
disaster- clay soils are made up of tiny particles and these mix with
the grit, and in dry weather this layer stiffens into what could only
be referred to as a natural concrete! Much better to add plenty of
good organic matter to the soil, and this will improve soil
structure.
Only native plants are good for
insects
Insects need a ready supply of nectar
from flowers, and the best way to provide plenty of food for native
insects is to fill your garden with plants that will flower for as
long a season as possible, and these are nearly always non-native
species*. Try to make sure there's plenty in flower in spring and
autumn for the early emerging insects and those late to hibernate.
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| Early flowering and good for bees, but this Mahonia 'Lionel Fortescue' is not native! |
Plant snowdrops in the green
Nope. This old hunk of horticultural
'wisdom' is probably well enough known to have become 'ancient
gardening lore'! It is, however, of dubious accuracy. Like all bulbs,
snowdrops (Galanthus) are best divided when dormant, in this
case in August. However it must be said that Galanthus bulbs have
thin skins and can dry out fairly easily if not handled carefully;
with this in mind you are probably best avoiding dry bulbs in bags
from the garden centre! Lifting bulbs 'in the green' (when in full
growth) is more convenient to commercial growers who like to lift and
bundle Galanthus from the open ground, but this does cause the bulbs
a degree of shock from the disturbance. Gardeners really should try
to lift and divide their bulbs in August, making sure that bulbs are
planted again very quickly, and the bulbs will grow away healthily in
spring.
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| Galanthus 'Straffan'- please divide when dormant! |
Alstroemerias must be grown in pots
Hmmm, well possibly. Alpine species and
tender varieties need to be in pots out of necessity, but the garden
hybrids really are much better in the ground! Alstroemerias like
good deep garden soil with good drainage (see the bit about drainage
in pots above). In pots plants can easily get overcrowded and
pot-bound, as well as needing a lot more feeding and watering. Also
plants in pots are more susceptible to damage by frost being able to
get into the too area from all sides. I would suggest assuming that
any Alstroemeria grown in a pot is tender. In the garden, however,
Alstroemerias have ample soil to grow in, are less susceptible to
drying out and are better protected from frost. For best success it
is wise to give your Alstroemerias a thick layer of a dry mulch (bark
chips would be ideal) for the first couple of winters while your
plant gets established.
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| Alstroemeria 'Inca Exotica' |
*Conserve native plants for their own
sake!
