ITV gardener Alan Titchmarsh has shared the huge lesson he learnt while trying to plant flowers and trees in his brand-new garden. Alan said that the key to having a blooming garden is to exercise patience and not to rush to change a landscape until the right time of year.
Writing in Country Life, he described his one acre of woodland, which is in “rhodedendron country”, as “over-grown and overshadowed”, but said he had learned he needed to be patient in order to make sure he got it right, as he asked: “Should I keep one or two trees and fell the rest to allow room for youngsters?” He continued: “Many of the rhododendrons have turned into trees — bare at the base with a scant and lofty canopy competing with other overgrown shrubs — but, until spring comes, I have no idea if many of them are capable of flowering.
“Some will have to go, but which? Others could simply be cut back.” He shared his plans to plant a new variety of trees but added a warning that clearing all of his trees would deprive him of reinvigorated specimens already in the woodland.
Alan shared another handy tip, telling keen gardeners that the best thing to do is wait until April to June to see which plants have the potential to juvenate after the geriatric branches have been felled and the crowns of the oaks have been lifted. He added: “Therein lies the conundrum: when to crack on and when to leave well alone — for just a little longer. New gardens possess so many challenges.”
However, the gardening expert has found other parts of the garden where he can get to work, as he has been making new beds around the terracing at the rear of the house.
Alan now has the chance to grow plentiful rhododendrons, which will thrive in the soil of his land. It comes after he shared his despair last year that he could never grow the plant in his previous Hampshire home, due to the alkaline soil.
However, his daughter had no problem in Surrey, where the ground is more acidic. He previously recommended gardeners analyse the pH level of their soil before they start to plant, and suggested buying a geological map to find out what type of soil is in your area.
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