Cracker of a good present
W
HEN the year’s work has been done and you need a read to while away the long winter nights, the gardening classics are guaranteed to enthuse, inspire and entertain. And they make great Christmas gifts.
Most of the old faves were written years ago but many are still reprinted and secondhand copies turn up in bookshops or on the internet (try abebooks.com).
Plant hunters’ stories make riveting reads – think travellers’ tales sprinkled with greenery.
Even if you don’t grow the rhododendrons and massive tree species being collected by the likes of Robert Fortune, Ernest Wilson and Frank Kingdon Ward a century or so ago, you will enjoy sharing their travels.
Awesome journeys with primitive (if any) transport and dangerous wildlife were all in a day’s work for our intrepid heroes, just to satisfy the demand for new garden plants.
Some classic authors toured the world’s great gardens in style, taking something of a horticultural Grand Tour.
That’s the aspect I find most fascinating about Russell Page’s The Education Of A Gardener.
One of our top landscape designers in the 1950s, he travelled the world looking at examples that have influenced gardens ever since.
His conversational thoughts and observations are just as enjoyable – not to mention valid – today.
Down-to-earth authors such as EA Bowles, Mr Middleton and Gertrude Jekyll are also a real joy – they wrote with such feeling about their gardens or, in the case of Miss Jekyll, those of her clients.
Any of their books are wonderful reads, giving a great insight into the minds of the authors and you will pick up lots of useful tips.
And if you’ve ever wondered what it felt like to be a gardener “in service” during the days of grand country houses and gardens, look for a copy of Geoffrey Eley’s And WHEN buying trees or shrubs for the garden, you naturally want the best.
And if you have only a small area to play with, it’s important that every single plant counts.
It’s the same principle choosing fruit trees and bushes or vegetable and flower seeds: you cannot afford to waste time, money and space on varieties that don’t earn their keep.
But how do you know which ones are best? Well, there’s a very easy way. Look for the AGM insignia. It’s a circle surrounding a challenge cup (the sort presented to winners of garden produce classes at village shows). Or you might see the letters AGM against the name in the catalogue, on the label or on the seed packet.
It stands for Award of Garden Merit, an accolade presented by the Royal Horticultural Society for varieties that have proved themselves to be of outstanding excellence – and not just when they are given “expert” care.
AGM varieties have to perform extra well even when Here Is Mr Streeter. It’s the biography of Fred Streeter, the head gardener at Petworth Park in West Sussex who followed Mr Middleton as the radio gardener between the wars and was a well-known gardening personality for years afterwards.
It brings to life the time when apprentices learnt the job over many years from the bottom up, and every little task was given the most minute attention to detail.
Imagine tying in fan-trained peach trees to wires on a greenhouse wall today, using raffia every six inches – it beggars belief.
But when it comes to more contemporary times, the modern classic authors – for me – must be Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto. Both are real experts who write from personal experience but in a personal, conversational style and, in Christopher Lloyd’s case, with flashes of “attitude”.
If you want one of each, I suggest Lloyd’s The Well-Tempered Garden and Chatto’s Dear Friend And Gardener, a series of letters on gardening and life between her and Lloyd, her long-time gardening friend.
Once you start rummaging, you will turn up lots more intriguing titles. Gardening bookshelves are a gold mine, so start browsing – you will be “lost” for hours. they are grown in normal garden conditions without any special treatment. I’ve heard of owners of small gardens who choose only AGM plants to get the best possible results.
Any time you are trying to choose between two similar sounding plants, AGM makes a sound deciding factor.
It’s a big help when you’re thumbing through the seed catalogues or poring over seed racks at a garden centre.
When in doubt go for AGM varieties.
Trials have proved that they are less susceptible to pests or disease and have a strong constitution. And from experience, they are good eaters as well.
AGM veg include some real favourites such as “Sungold” tomato, “Golddukat” dwarf French beans (with tasty waxy pods) and “Flyaway” carrot (that’s resistant to carrot fly).
So if you want success, look for the AGM “challenge cup” – it’s the sure-fire short cut to picking winning varieties.