Hedges needn’t hog too much time

A neglected hedge, on the other hand, can be a total eyesore, especially if it’s bare at the base or totally out of shape due to lack of pruning.

Late winter is an ideal time to cut back tough hedges such as beech, pyracantha, yew (which is the only conifer which will re-shoot from old wood), holly and hawthorn.

They can be cut back hard to rejuvenate and reshape them and re-growth will start almost immediately. If you feed the hedge the growing season before, it should come back healthy and vigorous.

As a rule, it’s best to prune deciduous types in late winter and evergreens in spring. Feed and mulch in mid-spring and water during dry weather. Fill in unsightly gaps in the hedge with smaller plants and avoid trying to match a plant with the height of an existing hedge.

Be warned, though, that newcomers have to compete for food, moisture and light with the bigger, established plants, which is why the failure rate with in-filling is pretty high.

Box hedging won’t be harmed by hard pruning. A bush can be drastically cut back in spring, but to avoid large bare patches, stagger the work over two to three seasons.

Use sharp secateurs to prune holly hedges and evergreen cherry laurels, as the large glossy leaves turn brown and look terrible if they’re chopped in half with shears.

Use a sharp bow saw for thick branches, loppers for those a little smaller and secateurs for twiggy growth. If you’re cutting back an old yew hedge, do it so that it’s broader at the bottom than at the top, which will result in it being less vulnerable to snow damage and, more importantly, that the growth at the bottom of the hedge receives as much light as the growth at the top, so it’s not likely to become bare again in the future.

To make the job easier, lay hessian or sheets of polythene at the base of the hedge if you are trimming a lot off it, to gather the clippings.

If a conifer hedge has become bare at the base, consider growing other plants in front of it to cover the gaps, such as Euonymus fortunei Emerald ‘n’ Gold or Emerald Gaiety, which are perfect for shady spots and will brighten up the plain green foliage of a hedge.

Other plants which will grow happily at the base of a hedge include spurge, euphorbia, and alchemilla, while in sunny spots you may be better off with lavender, herbs such as rosemary and sage and berberis.

Consider, however, exactly what effect you are after.

Filling in gaps may all be very well, but unless you are careful what you choose and space out fill-in plants evenly, your boundary could end up looking like a bit of a dog’s dinner.

Cutting a hedge back hard should be done in stages, as it takes quite a lot out of the plant. In year one the top and one side can be pruned, the opposite side in year two.

Start from the bottom and work upwards and, if possible, shred the clippings and put them on the compost heap as you go along. The top of the hedge should be trimmed last. It may look drastic but don’t worry, it will recover.

Once your hedge has reached its required height and thickness, it should only need clipping once a year in August, or in the case of fast-growing hedges like leylandii, in May as well.

Whatever method of hedge-pruning you take, look out for birds’ nests and don’t disturb any you come across.

Best of the bunch – Primula

EVERYONE should enjoy at least one specimen from this vast genus of plants, from the brightly-coloured types which adorn containers and edge borders in spring, to the alpine varieties and traditional wild flowers which look wonderful in cottage gardens.

The common primrose, P. vulgaris, is among the earliest wild flowers to bloom in the countryside and they look fantastic naturalised in a wild garden. My favourite is the drumstick primrose, P. denticulata, which bears mauve lollipop flowers on stout 45cm (18in) stems and looks lovely in the herbaceous border. White varieties are also available, flowering in midspring and early summer.

The popular cultivated types, which come in a massive range of colours and grow to just 15x15cm, are not as tough as their wild cousins and are better off planted outside in a month’s time unless you use them as spring pots in a sheltered porch or cool greenhouse.

As a rule, most primulas prefer dappled shade in moist, fertile soil. Clumps need dividing every three years in autumn or spring.

Good enough to eat

Jerusalem artichokes

These knobbly vegetables, which now have a place on supermarket shelves, are ideal for roasting, adding to soups or mixed with butter, seasoned and mashed. Buy tubers from specialist suppliers and plant them 10- 15cm deep and 30cm apart in well-drained, moistureretentive soil with added organic matter in a sunny spot or in dappled shade.

They are quick-growing, exceeding head height each season and acting as a good windbreak, although you'll need to stake them, and are topped with fragrant flowers.

Once the stems are 30cm (12in) tall, pile the earth up around the roots, as you would to potatoes, to make the plants more stable. By mid-summer, the tubers under the ground will be bulking up and should be ready for harvesting by mid-autumn.

When the frost hits the stems, cut back the plants to 15cm (6in) above the soil. Harvest as needed, pulling them out in clumps – each plant will provide about 12 tubers. They will survive pretty well in the ground, although it's wise to mulch the ground with old straw in the winter to protect them.

What to do this week

􀁥 Firm plants lifted by frost or windrock.

􀁥 Sow slow-maturing bedding plants such as antirrhinums and African marigolds.

􀁥 Sow quick-growing perennials such as campanulas and poppies to flower this year.

􀁥 Make a regular check on pots of bulbs being forced for indoor flowering.

􀁥 Order or buy summerflowering bulbs, corns and tubers, especially if you want to grow any that need starting off indoors, such as tuberous begonias.

􀁥 Pot autumn-rooted fuchsia cuttings into small, individual pots.

􀁥 Put cloches in place to warm soil for early sowing of vegetables in March.

􀁥 Apply a controlled-release fertiliser or slow-acting one to the soil in established borders, avoiding new foliage.

􀁥 Prepare seed beds on free-draining sandy soil, but delay cultivation on heavy, wet clay soil until March or April unless it has been covered with cloches.

􀁥 Plant hardy climbers if the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.

􀁥 Take cuttings from dahlia tubers.

􀁥 Prune old raspberry canes down to the ground as soon as new growth appears.

􀁥 Clean and oil the blades of all cutting tools in preparation for spring pruning.

􀁥 Sow seeds of greenhouse plants such as coleus, gloxinias and streptocarpus in seed trays in a heated propagator.

THREE WAYS TO...

Preserve fruit and veg

1 Blanche and freeze them, bringing prepared veg to the boil for just a minute or two and then plunging them into cold water to stop the cooking process. This is suitable for many vegetables including green beans, sweetcorn and carrots.

2 Use vinegar and sugar to preserve both fruit and vegetables. For example, poach pears and then pickle them in sweet vinegar with spices to make a delicious addition to cold meats.

3 Dry food such as apples, pears and apricots by slicing the fruit very thinly and laying it on wire trays, then putting it in a good airing cupboard or an extremely low temperature in the oven with the door partially open.

Herbs can be dried by gathering them and hanging them upside down in small bunches in a dry, airy place out of full sun.