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10 February 2004 Online: www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk gardening IN ASSOCIATION WITH Some common garden problems QWhich bulbs can I plant to create colourful summer displays? I would also like some bulbs to grow in pots and others to provide me with cut flowers. AOnce the last tulips and Dutch iris fade, you can look forward too glorious summer displays from alliums, camassias, summer hyacinth (galtonia), ornithogalum, crinum, canna and Amaryllis belladonna. Slightly more challenging is Cardiocrinum giganteum which carries tall, bold heads of white trumpet flowers above beautiful glossy foliage. Every bulb catalogue will be full of lilies, ranging from the dainty species to bright and gaudy hybrids. Lily bulbs are best planted from autumn to early spring and as soon as the bulbs can be purchased. Many lilies are ideal for growing in pots with the new dwarf varieties being particularly suited to pot displays. Some bulbs and dahlia tubers can be planted outside in early May to provide late summer and autumn cut flowers. But gladioli corms are best planted in groups at two or three-week intervals form midspring to early summer to produce a successional display and all gladioli varieties make excellent cut flowers. Also look out for their relative called the watsonia. An unusual patio display comes from a container filled with the pineapple flower, Eucomis bicolor. Start off in the greenhouse, bringing the container outside for the summer and autumn months. Provide frost protection during winter. These bulbs will then divide and multiply naturally. Agapanthus also perform well in large containers, but in most parts of the country also need winter protection from cold and waterlogging. To round off the list of summer Lilies provide both flower and fragrance flowering bulbs, take a look at tigridia and for late colour do include colchicums, crocosmias, montbretia and nerine. For pots in the greenhouse try begonias, sinningias, Hymenocallis festalis and scadoxus. QCan you recommend some fast growing plants for a shady site that will smother the existing weeds? AThere are plenty of ground cover plants for shade, such as Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle) and bergenia. Variegated plants are a great way to brighten up those shady areas. There are several good white or pewter-leaved forms of Lamium maculatum, such as White Nancy. The variegated Solomon’s seal is beautiful and there are hundreds of variegated hostas. Variegated honesty is lovely, although the variegation only appears in the second season. Variegated periwinkle, a rampant spreader, will fill dark corners. But no plant is good at smothering weeds. Plant them through sheets of slitted black polythene or woven landscaping fabric and cover this with a 2.5-5cm (1-2ins) layer of chipped bark. QWhy won’t my wisteria flower? I’ve trained it for a number of years to the south-facing side of my house, but it has never bloomed. What am I doing wrong? AYou certainly have the right spot as wisteria loves to grow in a sunny, sheltered site. A common cause of nonflowering is that the plant is seed-raised and therefore takes many years go bloom. When buying wisteria always look for plants that have been raised by grafting; the knobbly graft union is usually clearly visible near the base of the main stem. Also try to choose named varieties such as Issai, Black Dragon and Purple Patches. However, this is little help in your present situation. Several things can be done to promote flowering. Training your plant to spread over the entire wall will ensure it receives maximum sunshine. The cheapest and most effective means of support is strong galvanised wire run through vine eyes. Twice yearly pruning will develop the short lateral branches which produce flowers so in July or August take the side shoots back to five to six buds from the main stem. The following January shorten these shoots even further to two to three buds. Plants growing near walls may be short of nutrients as the soil here is often poor quality and the shelter created by the wall also keeps off a fair amount of any rain water. Tackle this by annual spring mulching with well rotted compost or manure, watering during dry spells and applying a general fertiliser in spring. An application of sulphate of potash in late winter can also help to encourage flowering. Wisteria usually loves to grow in a sunny, sheltered site QHaving recently bought a house, my gardening budget is very tight. What scented plants could I grow that would not cost much? your own plants from seed is AGrowing the most economical. Try hardy annuals such as Centaurea mosohata (sweet sultan), Lathyrus odoratus (sweet peas), particularly the variety Snoopea, which needs very little support, as well as Matthiola bicornis (night-scented stock), Reseda odorata (mignonette) and zaluzianskya (night phlox). Use alyssum to create honey-scented edging. Sweet White and Oriental Night are two of the strongest smelling varieties around. SKIMMIA (Rubella) THERE are numerous lovely skimmias, generally from the Himalayas and the Far East, and these form evergreen shrubs of varying heights. Most are dioecious, meaning they have male and female flowers on different plants, and both sexes must be planted to ensure a crop of fruits. Rubella is a compact male variety with PLANT OF THE MONTH attractive red-margined, dark green leaves. The flower buds, which appear in autumn and winter, are a prominent feature of the plant, as are the scented flowers which open in spring. It is perfect for growing in containers and provides good all year round colour. Rubella has been given an Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which is for plants of outstanding excellence. Ten week stocks can be treated as halfhardy annuals and sown in pots on a window sill in late winter for spring flowers or sown outside in April and May. Sow biennials such as Hesperis matronalis in late spring to flower the next year. Other good biennials include honesty, wallflowers and sweet williams. For climbers select Lonicera periclymenum Serotina and Belgica, L. caprifolium with cream and pale pink flowers or L. x americana, which has attractive yellow flowers. ● More information from Greenfingers, edited by Adam Pascoe (BBC Books) It likes partial shade and grows to a height of 75cm. Read Brigid Press every Saturday in The Northern Echo
February 2004 Online: www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk 11 d.i.y IN ASSOCIATION WITH LAYING A NEW CARPET Measure the room to establish the amount of carpet required. Always buy a piece of carpet that is slightly larger than your measurements, so it can be cut back and laid in one piece 4 Using a very sharp blade trim the carpet to fit and use a bolster chisel to fit it behind the gripper strips 2 Lay the underlay at T HE S LEEP I NN H OTEL Coatham Munderville, Darlington St. Valentines Day Dinner Enjoy a romantic 4 course dinner at our exclusive Brasserie 59 with a complimentary glass of wine to complement your meal. Relax with your loved one and take in the romantic ambience Why not make it a romantic break? Enjoy dinner as above, then spend the night in one of our luxurious bedrooms, with king size bed, air conditioning and power shower. Then enjoy a hearty full English Breakfast in the morning. All for only £90 per couple BOOK NOW ON 01325 329600 www.sleep-inn.co.uk Only £22 .50 P ER P ERSON A company you can trust ... with an established reputation! Cleveland Gas offer a first class service on all your needs, from a single boiler change to a brand new system, fires and firesurrounds, gas central heating and domestic gas appliances CLEVELAND GAS Service Engineers Ltd Hartlepool Showroom: 151 York Road Hartlepool, Cleveland TS26 9EQ Tel: (01429) 269987 Fax: (01429) 868336 Stockton Showroom: 15 Oxbridge Lane, Stockton TS18 4DN Tel: (01642) 603922 Fax: (01642) 643008 CGSE 3 Butt one edge of the carpet to the wall and fix it on to the gripper strips. Then use a knee kicker to stretch the carpet to the other wall How to fit a new carpet SPARE rooms are often the last to benefit from a makeover but it needn’t be a difficult task. Simply touching up paintwork and generally giving it a very good clean may be all that is required. If it’s a room that is largely ignored, however, it may be time to give it a lift by laying a new carpet. This isn’t a particularly complicated DIY job, but it does need to be done with care and precision. When buying a carpet, don’t always opt for the cheapest. It will soon look shabby and need replacing. Although it is possible to fit a hessian-backed carpet yourself, it can be difficult as the carpet will need to be stretched. If you’ve spent a lot of money on a new carpet then it’s probably worth getting this fitted professionally. However a second-hand hessian-backed carpet is much easier to fit as it has already been stretched. A foam-backed carpet is probably the easiest type of carpet to lay. Measure the room to establish the amount of carpet required. Always buy a piece of carpet that is slightly larger than your measurements, so it can be cut back and laid in one piece. If you do need to join two bits of carpet, avoid making the seam in areas of heavy traffic such as doorways. How the carpet performs is often determined by the care taken to prepare the floor underneath. For wooden floors, remove any protruding nails and tacks and fix any loose boards. Fill any wide gaps with a wooden wedge knocked in flush with the rest of the floor. Finally, clean the floor and ensure it is dry. If the room hasn’t been carpeted before, check that the door has enough space underneath for the carpet. If not, the base of the door will need to be planed so it can be opened across the carpet. If you are laying a hessian-backed carpet you will need to fit underlay. A foam-backed 1 Fix gripper strips about 1/4" from the skirting, with the points towards the wall 5 Lay a door bar and stretch the carpet to fit the gripper points on it by SHARON DAVIES carpet doesn’t require underlay, but will need floor lining paper to prevent dust and to protect the carpet from wear and tear. The trick to laying foam-backed carpet and floor lining paper is to lay them both at the same time. To begin with, lay carpet tape or carpet grippers around the edge of the room to hold the carpet in place. Carpet tape is far easier and quicker. Next, unroll the carpet half way across the room. Lay the lining paper across the other half making sure it doesn’t cover the carpet tape or carpet grippers. Fix in place with a stapling hammer, staple gun or tacks. Roll the carpet over the now lined floor and roll up the carpet on the other side. Line this side of the floor as before and then roll out the carpet so it now spreads flat right across the room. The carpet will now need to be cut and fixed into place. Using a very sharp blade trim the carpet to fit, cutting first along straight walls and then around corners and alcoves. Fix the carpet in place by peeling off the backing tape on the carpet tape and pressing the carpet firmly in place all around the room or by pressing the carpet hard onto the carpet grippers. THE QUICK FIX Q Our pipes burst this winter. How can I prevent this from happening again? A Make sure all pipes are lagged, especially those in the loft. Q Damp patches keep appearing at the top of one particular wall. Any suggestions? A A quick solution is to treat the area with damp seal. However the root of the problem is probably from moisture seeping through from the outside so this will need to be investigated. THE MORRITT ARMS Wedding Fayre Sunday, February 15 th 11am - 3pm Exhibitors including C ARS B RIDAL W EAR F LORISTS C AKES C HILDREN ’ S E NTERTAINERS H AT D ESIGNERS M ENS O UTFITTERS D ISCOS P HOTOGRAPHERS S TRING Q UARTET H ARPIST W ALKABOUT M ODELS B ISHOP A UCKLAND R EGISTRARS Visit our refurbished Hotel & Ballroom licensed for Civil Ceremonies ENTRANCE FREE Morritt Arms Hotel, Greta Bridge, Barnard Castle. Tel. 01833 627232 or visit : www.themorritt.co.uk Visit us for a unique dining experience in the heart of Durham City. Over 80 different dishes served daily from the best Cantonese, Peking and Thai cuisines Spice it up on Valentine’s Day! Book Early NOW! The Big Lunch Buffet £5.50 11.45-5.00pm leave by 5.30pm The Deluxe Grand Buffet £8.50 7.01-10.30pm Thai & Chinese Buffet Restaurant The Huge Happy Hour Buffet £6.50 5.01-7.00pm leave by 7.30pm The Baby Elephant Buffet £3.00 All day for children over 2 years and under 4ft 11ins in height Unit 1-12, Millburngate Shopping Centre, Durham Open Daily 11.45-10.30pm Tel. 0191 375 7333
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SHOPPING Di's objects of desire ME AND MY WARDROBE Kate ...

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