2 hours Ago By [email protected] (Danny Gutmann)
Gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh has claimed that there is just one thing that gardeners should to have in order to grow plants in 'dry, sandy soil'. Writing in the most recent edition of the BBC Gardeners World magazine, the 75-year-old admitted that 'dry, sandy soils' can be 'difficult' as he said: "Dry, sandy soils are every bit as difficult. They are easy to cultivate after heavy rain, being rapidly free draining, but they cannot hold onto moisture or nutrients.
" However, avid gardeners should not worry as he said that plants laid in 'dry, sandy soil' can easily be added to with 'organic matter' to help it grow new plants. He said: "Again, the addition of organic matter - well-rotted garden compost or manure - will improve their ability to sustain plants, but such amelioration needs to be continuous, and you would be better advised to select plants which, once established, are used to drought. And that spot in dry shade - the ultimate double whammy? Yes, there are plants that will grow here, even though your choice will be more limited than usual.
Above all, don't lose heart. Remember the old saying: "Right plant, right place". As the veteran presenter continued to provide advice for planting in the autumn months, he warned that gardeners should fight the urge to try and grow 'brilliant summer bedding plants in deep shade'.
He said in instances such as this that gardeners should think about planting the likes of: "spring flowers such as snowdrops, bluebells and wood anemones have adapted over thousands of years to bloom early and take advantage of the available light before the overhead leaf canopy is fully developed, by which time they will be making seeds before they die down and enter summer dormancy." The Daily Express reported that the two plants that he'd 'banish' from gardens forever were 'pampass grass' and 'large flowered gladioli' as she spoke to Stephanie Mahon on a recent episode of the Talking Gardens podcast. And, he described the appearance of pampass grass as something that looked like 'like a collection of feathered dusters sticking out of a mountain of grass' and warned anyone trying to remove the plant that they've 'got a real task ahead of them.
' Alan shot to fame after first appearing on our screens on BBC's Nationwide before later earning the presenting role of the Chelsea Flower Show for the channel in 1983. Since then, his career has continued to flourish after he started presenting Gardeners World in 1996 before leaving in 2002..
