Are there any gardeners out there?

Q: What happens when you do a radio gardening phone-in programme on the first nice, dry day of the year?
A: No-one phones in because they're all in the garden!
Well, good for lucky old them.
Sunday's programme on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire was a bit flat since, we only had eight questions in the whole hour. Admittedly, the programme has been moved around a bit recently until it has settled at its current, final slot, due to changes in the station's schedules. Maybe it was because I talked Welsh to the weather presenter? Or maybe it was because everyone was gardening or visiting the local garden centre - for a cup of tea or to buy garden equipment?
Never mind, at least presenter Chris South and guests Philippa Pearson & I can talk for Britain, so we just rabbited on about 'stuff'.
The 'hot' questions (if you can have hot questions in these circumstances) were roses. One caller had had what he thought and had been told was fire blight on a new pyracantha hedge and wanted to replace it with a rose hedge. The other had bought a load from the pound shop and they were in full growth - not surprisingly as I'm sure pound shops are nice and hot and not used to looking after live plants - and wanted to know what to do with them.
Is fire blight still as prevalent as it used to be? Anyone seen it/had it recently? Answers on a postcard please...

ABC of amaryllis, bonsai & cyclamen

I've been guesting on Ken Crowther's gardening programme on BBC Essex again, sorting out the county's problems.
It's odd how questions go around in packs/trends and this time everyone was fretting about their Christmas purchases or Christmas presents.
How to look after amaryllis (don't just chuck them away after flowering but keep them growing), bonsais (by the dozen) dropping leaves - mainly due to overwatering - and cyclamen not flowering - or flowering very well if the callers were showing off. One caller had flowers on 30cm long stems - a tree cyclamen.
One caller wanted my thoughts on composts and fertilisers for his crops on the allotment - not an easy answer to give in two minutes - especially as he had spoken to other people, read several books and they all contradicted each other/gave different advice and his head was in a spin. My 'Hodge's guide to soil & plant feeding in two minutes' seemed to sort things out for him. One of the things he'd read was that he needed to apply ammonium nitrate now, followed by sulphate of potash in February, followed by ... I just told him to chuck a couple of ounces of Growmore around. As you'll see I like to make things simple.
Sadly, we then had follow-up calls asking why I hadn't featured feeds for this situation or that plant or the other condition. My suggestion of a two-hour programme dedicated to compost, manure and fertiliser didn't go down too well with the powers that be at Essex - surprisingly. Some people say I speak a load of old compost all the time anyway.
Another caller then wanted 'Hodge's two-minute guide to potting composts', which opened a whole new can of worms - almost literally!

Tomorrow I'm off to BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to do their gardening slot at noon with the lovely Philippa Pearson. More muck & magic?

Trendy gardening

So while I wait for the garden to thaw, dry out, warm up and generally become more pleasant for working in, I thought now's a good time to look at the gardening trends for this year. Ah yes, that old January chestnut. The thing with trends is that anybody can start one - and once started they can become self-fulfilling prophecies. Either that or everyone ignores them by February.
Anyhoo, here are mine:

Black & white We'll all be clamoring for flowers in these 'colours'.
Hardy evergreens Following the last winter, we'll be looking for evergreens that survive cold winters. This may include dwarf conifers; gawd, did I really say that?
Dahlias Yes, I know these have been back in favour in recent years, but I believe 2011 is the big one.
Cut your own OK, so I've stolen this one from elsewhere, but after the huge increase in GYO veg (which will continue to grow in 2011, but not as much as in recent years), gardeners will realise they can also save a fortune on visiting the florist.
Growing up with vertical gardening Yes, we all love our climbers, but I think there will be a huge increase in demand for these. And, as gardens get smaller, growing walls, veg walls, green walls etc will finally take off.
Green roofs Similarly, green roofs will start to become popular with gardeners - not just designers, scientists, those with huge estate gardens and 'greenies'.
* Research shows that covering walls and roofs with plants can cut down on your heating bills (see Gardening with a purpose).
Lawns Finally, we'll all get so miffed with our lawns that they'll finally revert to their natural states - or be given a good topdressing - of concrete, and converted to patios.
Gardening with a purpose We'll all wake up and realise that gardens aren't for sitting in and enjoying, but they are a wasted space and so should be used for some higher purpose - biodiversity, wildlife, food supplies and biofuels & green energy (this one is done a bit tongue in cheek!).

Does anyone else have anything better?

No longer dreaming...

...of a white Christmas - it looks like a reality. Having moaned for the last few weeks that we hadn't had any snow, today it's bucketing down in Peterborough, so a 'whitey' on December 25 is a good possibility. As long as it hangs around for the next few days.
I'm not the only one that's pleased. Garden plants that have been suffering over the last few weeks because of the bitterly cold weather (down to -9.5C) are looking a little more perky - the snow will give them some insulation - and the temperature has reached a balmy 0.5C.

The winter conditions are costing me a fortune in bird food though, and I'm waiting for a delivery from the RSPB of high-octane suet treats, which the birds love. Hope it comes soon, otherwise it'll be like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds next time I venture outside, as my feathered friends have come to rely on me for their winter repasts.
Recent additions to feeding time include a pair of mistle thrushes, who have become very brave over the last few weeks and now eat with the others from the table, which is just outside the back door.
The frenzy of bird activity at Hodge's Bird Bistro has encouraged another new visitor - a sparrowhawk, who has taken to devouring his dinner on a tree stump at the bottom of the garden.

Hope all your garden plants survive the winter, but I'm here for help and advice if there's anything worrying you.

Have a cool Yule and a happy New Year.

OMG - say goodbye to peat-based compost

In March I blogged that peat-based composts were on their way out and by 2020 us gardeners would have to be 100% peat free. I kinda had my fingers crossed when the new government were installed in May that they would think this was a rubbish idea and would drop it like a steaming hot peat bog.

It looks like keeping your fingers crossed just isn't enough these days – Defra has published a consultation outlining proposals to phase out the use of peat by 2030. Another 10 years grace? No sadly not, the 2030 date is for nurseries. So, here is the proposed timescale:

• Phase out peat use in local authorities and the wider public sector by 2015.
• Phase out peat in the amateur gardening market by 2020.
• Phase out peat use by growers and producers by 2030.

There is one glimmer of light. The proposals recommend conducting a comprehensive review of progress in 2015. Maybe then they'll realise it's a bad idea. Or maybe I'll be dead by 2020 and won't have to worry about it!

Bah, humbug - merry peat-free Christmas.

Google Adwords want to thank me

I've just received a personal thank you from Google Adwords for advertising with them.
If you want to see it, go to http://www.youtube.com/adwords10?x=93d0b20d87d44fc2b496ba94fc4866d2
Makes me feel all warm inside.

Unemployed TV & magazine gardeners

I'm glad I got made redundant last year, as I've had 12 months to get my feet under the table freelancing. If it had been this year there would have been a bit of extra competition. Toby Buckland and Alys Fowler have just been dumped from Gardeners' World TV and Monty is back as main presenter. I understand it'll be filmed in his garden, so having wasted two years of my TV licence money building the TV garden in Birmingham, it'll now be dismantled and I'll be donating my money to Monty to develop his back yard. Hmmm, what a waste.

If you want a good laugh, visit sea-of-immeasurable-gravy.blogspot.com  The GW RIP video is hysterical - well I thought so.

Also, my good friend Ian Hodgson has been made redundant, sorry his position as Editor-in-Chief has been made redundant, from the RHS The Garden magazine.

And then I hear that Bauer, who own the lovely Garden News, which I write for every fortnight, is looking to buy BBC magazines - which includes Gardeners' World Magazine.

It's all go in the heady world of garden journalism and it's not even Christmas yet.