Good plant #124 - Acer Palmatum 'Bloodgood'

This is a very reliable and tougher-than-most red-leafed acer. It looks well in a pot or as a specimen plant.

This thrives best in a free draining soil. If you have clay soil, add some compost and grit to the soil to improve drainage. However it will cope better with heavier soils compared to some.

This acer can be pruned – new growth in June and older growth in September. Carefully does it though! This plant grows fast when it’s young and may put out an excessively long branch that needs pruning to keep a good shape.

This plant prefers a sheltered site and part shade but produces more vibrant red colours in sunnier sites.

The main enemies of this plant are a late spring frost, over or under-watering and scorcing by the wind.

Use the 'SEARCH THIS BLOG' function (right) or click here for more good plants and gardening tips: http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/

Good plant #123 - Helianthus 'Lemon Queen'

This is a statuesque (6ft plus), very reliable and vigorous perennial sunflower that blooms quite late in summer. It's great as part of a prairie/ meadow or late flowering border. It looks great mixed in with the tall and red Crocosmia 'Lucifer'.

This herbaceous perennial is cut down to the ground after flowering or in early spring. It spreads very quickly and widely in fertile soil and can need staking in exposed sites.

It prefers fertile-ish moist and well-drained soil and will thrive in sunny and part shady sites.

It can be divided in spring.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #122 - Cortaderia Richardii

My favourite large-ish grass. It's the New Zealand version of pampass grass. Elegant, compact, versatile and tough as old boots. It looks great on its own as a specimen plant in a pot or gravel border, with other grasses and with perennial and annual flowers.

It tolerates all but the boggiest of soils, exposed or sheltered sites and everything but deep shade.

I hack off all the dead leaves and flower heads in Spring with shears for younger plants. For more mature plants I almost cut it to the ground.

You can divide a mature plant or sow seeds in spring to propagate it.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #121 - Pyracantha 'Orange Glow'

This is a gardener's favourite evergreen shrub often used for climbing. It produces masses of white flowers in spring followed by long-lasting bright orange berries from autumn.

If you need to prune to shape, it is best done in late winter/ early spring.

It's a do-er in almost any soil an set against a wall. It will thrive in sunny and part shady sites.

You can take cuttings from late spring through summer.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #120 - Rudbekia 'Goldsturm'

This is a very reliable and easy to grow variety of this much loved perennial. It will grow into a hefty clump really quickly and produce masses of flowers that persist very late into autumn.

It looks great in a prairie border or any other late flowering setting.

It will tolerate all but the most shady site and almost any soil type.

You can divide it in spring when the first shoots appear.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #119 - Euphorbia Blackbird

A stunning euphorbia that provides both structure and colour. It is very compact and will tolerate very dry conditions once established. It doesn't seem to spread as much some varieties.

It thrives best in sunny well-drained and moderately fertile situations. However, it will cope with part shade and very dry conditions once established.

I remove fading flower heads of spurges.

You can divide this in spring after it has established for a couple of years.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #118 - Symphytum x Uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'

This is a gorgeous hardy perennial foliage plant that produces clusters of bluey-pink flowers. It's grown mainly for its dramatic, large and variegated leaves - one of the best in my opinion. It contrasts well with dark green plants like Hakonechloa Macra in part shady moist sites.

After flowering you can cut it back and get a new flush of leaves.

It will tolerate sun and part shade and likes moist fertile soil - even very poorly drained soil.

You can divide the clump in spring.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #117 - Helianthus Annuus 'Dwarf Sungold'

This is my favourite dwarf sunflower. It produces masses of pom pom like flowers from many branches. Several of these in a large pot look fantastic.

The leaves seem to be tasty for every type of insect, slug and snail. I recommend that young plants should be protected with as many deterrents as your conscience will permit.

The sunnier the site the better. They prefer moist but well drained and fertile soil. Just as flower buds begin to appear I feed them with a soluble general purpose fertlizer. If you grow them in a pot, water regularly.

These hardy annual plants are grown from seed, which can be sown outside in April.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Weeding the easy way

Weeds are often described as plants in the wrong place. If you want to cut down weeding, put a weed barrier down in winter or very early spring. I find a porous woven fabric sheet and 2-4" layer of bark does the trick.

Weeds are either:

(1) Annual weeds (which last a year)

(2) Ephemeral weeds (which last less than a year)

(3) Perennial weeds (which come back year after year)

The best ways to get rid of categories (1) and (2) are hand picking, hoeing (on a hot dry day), or burning them with a flame. This is best done when the seedlings appear in spring and summer so the weeds do not set seed.

Perennial weeds take a bit more work because many perennial weeds will come back after hand picking, hoeing or burning unless you remove/ damage the entire root system. Your options include:

(1) Remove all soil and vegetation to a depth of two to three feet and replace with some new screened soil in winter - expensive but effective

(2) Apply a glyphosate systemic fetiliser when the weeds are in full growth summer - effective but needs to be applied carefully so as not to damage other plants

(3) Be vigilant and carefully remove the entire vegetative growth and root system of each weed - effective but time-consuming

Some weeds require professional attention, such as Japenese Knot Weed.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #116 - Acanthus Spinosus L.

This is a very statuesque perennial with tall flower spikes and glossy and spiny leaves. One of its great strengths, is that it is very drought tolerant.

It'll grow in any deep and well-drained soil and tolerates all but the most shaded sites but it does best in plenty of sun.

You can divide it in spring, once it has had a couple of years to establish.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #115 - Eupatorium Maculatum Atropurpureum

This is a huge late flowering herbaceous perennial - it can get to 7ft in height and spread in fertile soil. It's a great plant for the back of the border with its purple stems and pinky flowers. It looks great mixed in with late flowering grasses like miscanthus and cortaderia.

It prefers moist and fertile-ish soil and will grow in all but the most shady of sites.

You can divide it in spring.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #114 - Sanguisorba 'Menziesii'

This is an early flowering perennial variety. It is reliable and floriferous. The oval flowers rise above clumps of bluey-grey leaves. Looks nice with stipa tenuissima.

It prefers moist soil and will tolerate sunny and shady-ish sites.

You can divide it in spring, which I recommend as it is a rapid spreader.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #113 - Leucanthemum Superbum 'Snowcap'

This is a long-flowering perennial daisy. The flowers last up to three months. Dead heading will encourage more flowers in the growing season.

You cut back all the old growth in winter.

It will tolerate most fertile-ish soils and sunny and part shady sites.

You can divide this plant in spring.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #112 - Nepeta Racemosa 'Walker's Low'

This is a less rampant variety of nepeta. It sometimes produces a mass of blue flowers twice if you cut it back after the first flush of flowers.

It prefers well drained soil and a sunny-ish site.

Cut back hard in early spring to encourage compact growth.

Divide large clumps in spring to maintain vigour and create new plants.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #111 - Lavandula

Even people who don't like gardening like the hardy types of lavenders. Why? Because they require very little maintenance to look brilliant and will even look good if you do nothing. Three of my favourites are 'Grosso', 'Hidcote' and 'Folgate' - great scent and compact shape.

They key for looking after lavenders is very well drained soil and a sunny position. This means adding plenty of grit to the planting hole soil mix - almost 50:50. If you do not do this, the plants can be short-lived.

If you want a compact shape, you can either trim in autumn or spring. I do it in early autumn. You should never trim back into old wood.

Be careful not to buy tender lavenders.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #110 - Solenostemon 'Henna'

This coleus is one of the less garish varieties - it's still quite vivid though. Whilst it can be a perennial, unless you've got a heated greeenhouse or are prepared to keep it indoors over winter, it's best treated as an annual foliage plant.

It does really well in a pot provided it's kept moist and will trail a little if confined to a deep but narrow diameter one.

This group of plants prefer sunnyish sites and moist well-drained soil.

If you buy one early in the season, its worth taking cuttings to increase your plants for a more spectacular display.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #109 - Heuchera Licorice

Most gardeners have a favourite heuchera. This one has particularly dark foliage which is slightly ruffled. The flowers are small and white.

It forms a lovely compact clump from which expands year on year. Heucheras like a mulch of compost every spring.

Heucheras prefer moist fertile, well-drained soil and will tolerate both sunny and shady-ish sites.

The best time to divide heucheras is mid Autumn.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #108 - Mesembryanthemum

This low growing tender annual is ideal for a very hot dry sunny site. It works very well in pots and is a good centre piece for an outdoor eating table. Its leathery foliage turns from green to red from late spring through summer.

They are very easy to grow from seed and are cheap to buy as small plants. The flowers are only open in the sunlight.

They prefer well-drained and impoverished soil and must have a sunny site.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #107 - Sciadopitys Verticillata

This is a very striking evergreen and slow growing columnar conifer. I was literally stopped in my tracks by the leaves which look like fireworks exploding. You can buy lots of different varieties of this, including golden coloured ones. There are smaller varieties which can be grown in pots too.

It prefers moist but well drained soil and will tolerate sunny and part shaded sites.

You should refrain from pruning as it is very slow to regenerate.

You can take cuttings in autumn.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #106 - Begonia Semperflorens 'Ascot Bronze White'

This tender plant is useful for filling gaps in the summer months. It produces many flowers against a highly contrasting bronze foliage.

In my experience it grows almost anywhere and in any soil. Fertilize ( every two to three weeks) and water regularly for optimum performance.

It lasts only one season but is so cheap it is worth buying every year.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #105 - Lonicera Periclymenum 'Graham Thomas'

This is a heavily scented deciduous honeysuckle that has a long flowering season. The flowers start off white-ish but then turn more yellowy.

Honeysuckles grow best in part shaded sites and moist well-drained soils with a robust framework to twine and climb up. Once flowering is over, this honeysuckle benefits from pruning back to strong new-ish growth.

You can take cuttings in late summer.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Build a pergola the easy way

You will need the following materials:

• Enough treated wooden trellis to meet your desired size for the ‘roof’
• 4no. 4” x 4” lengths of treated wood cut to your desired height (plus a foot to go underground) for the posts
• 4no. screws
• A plank of wood at least as long as your desired length for the pergola
• Two sticks of wood exactly 18” long
• Rubble (e.g. broken bricks)
• Just add water ready mix concrete
• A spirit level

Then just follow these steps:

1. Dig four holes for the upright posts, spaced to fit the size of the trellis roof
2. Level the bottom of holes to the correct depth using the plank of wood, two sticks and a spirit level
3. Put the first post in its hole, shore it up with a little rubble and level it vertically as best you can
4. Put the second post in its hole, shore it up with a little rubble and level it vertically as best you can
5. Horizontally level posts one and two using the plank on top of the posts and the spirit level, checking the spacing for the trellis roof as you go
6. When you are satisfied with the first and second posts’ horizontal and vertical levels and spacing for the trellis roof, carefully pour enough water then dry concrete mix around the post to fill the hole except for a couple of inches below ground level
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for the third and fourth posts
8. Screw the wooden trellis to the top of posts once the concrete is set
9. Paint or stain as required
10. Add climbing plants and enjoy!

The key to this project is diligently checking and refining the horizontal and vertical levels and carefully spacing the posts for the trellis roof.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #104 - Cotinus Coggygria 'Royal Purple'

This deciduous shrub is a gardener's favourite. Why? It creates great contrast in a border and can be pruned to suit the space you have available.

It's also known as a smoke bush because its pink-ish flowers have a feathery appearance which looks smoky.

I suggest pruning this hard back (remove crossing branches and down to two buds per stem) in early spring to encourage really vibrant foliage. Like most shrubs it loves a 2-3 inch mulch of rich compost round the base in early spring.

This plant does best in moist but well drained soil. It'll thrive in full sun and part shaded sites.

Cuttings can be taken in late summer and early autumn.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #103 - Oenothera Biennis

Also known as the common evening primrose, this tall hardy biennial is worth the wait from seed. A succession of large scented flowers are produced on tall stems in the summer and autumn. It is a classic cottage garden plant and looks equally at home in prairie or meadow planting scheme.

It likes sun or part shade and likes any well drained soil. As it's a tall plant it's best kept in sheltered spot otherwise you will need to stake it.

It will self seed. Seeds are best planted in early summer. In the first growing season low-growing rosettes will form. The following year the tall flower stems shoot up.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #102 - Molinia Caerulea 'Variegata'

This is an elegant hardy perennial low-ish growing grass. This plant forms a lovely tuft of striped leaves followed by erect purple tinted flower heads above the tuft. A great one for the front of the border and can be planted in a large group. It maintains its colour well into the winter until the first really cold spell.

Remove all the previous year's growth in early spring and feed with a general purpose soluble fertilizer when the new shoots appear.

It prefers fertile well-drained soil and a sunny position but will tolerate a little shade.

You can divide it in spring soon after the new shoots begin to appear.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #101 - Physocarpus Opulifolious 'Centre Glow'

This shrub certainly has wow factor foliage. Its foliage is almost two-tone as it emerges then goes a very dark red. It also produces pink-tinged white flowers but the foliage on its own makes this deciduous shrub a winner.

You can treat this as a flowering shrub, in which case you have to prune straight after flowering has finished. Alternatively if you cut back to almost the ground in spring you can treat it as foliage shrub.

It likes a sunny site a will tolerate any well drained soil.

You can propagate by cuttings in summer.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #100 - Papaver Somniferum 'Lilac Pom Pom'

I came across this annual opium poppy variety by pure fluke. My brother-in-law felled some conifers and turned over the soil beneath them and hey presto a huge swathe of lilac coloured poppies came up. He gave me some seeds.

Originally, I thought it was a variety called purple peony but was wrong. This is a truely floriferous and huge annual poppy that you grow from seed.

It will grow and seed itself everywhere although it prefers full sun and well drained soil. Just remove the young seedlings you don't want and or move them to where you want them. Do this carefully as they seem to resent root disturbance.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #99 - Lilium Asiatic 'Blackout'

This is an amazing and tall asiatic lily. It is very reliable and will produce more flowers year on year. It likes any well-drained soil in a sunny spot. To encourage flowers and bulbs to grow and split I feed with a general purpose soluble fertilizer in spring.

I remove seed pods straight after each flower dies, so the plant's energy is not wasted on making ripe seeds.

To propagate simply lift, split and replant large bulbs in late autumn/ winter. When you lift a lily you can tell whether its ready to split because it looks like two or more bulbs.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #98 - Crataegus Laevigata Plena

This is floriferous deciduous small-ish ornamental hawthorn tree grown for its abundance of double flowers. There's a pink version of this too (Rosea).

If you live in Manchester, hawthorns are found everywhere. You often see them as you drive down the motorway along with cow parsley. They look gorgeous together. It produces berries in autumn too.

You can plant them almost anywhere in almost any soil except for very boggy soil.

Propagation is notoriously tricky. If you use the seeds they don't always come true or even germinate. The only other way is grafting onto established root stock in late winter/ early spring. If you want more, I suggest buying more.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #97 - Campanula Poscharskyana

This is the vigorous blue flowering plant you see growing in stone/ brick walls with cracks and and in crevices on paths.

It likes free draining soil and a sunny-ish site but will grow virtually anywhere. If you want to grow it to cascade down a wall, plant it towards the top/ on the top of the wall in some fertile soil (to get it off to a good start) and its roots will then find the moisture and nutrient in the cracks. It will not take long to cascade down.

This plant will self seed. You can also divide it in spring.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page.

Good plant #96 - Podophyllum Versipelle 'Spotty Dotty'

This has to be one the best perennial foliage plants for moist shady areas. This is a fairly recent variety of Podophyllum. Although it produces flowers, it's mainly grown for the foliage.

This plant needs a fair bit of shade and moist soil.

It can be divided in spring just as the new growth pops through the soil.

For more good plants and gardening tips click here:http://greenshootsgardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com/ and check out the archive at the bottom of the page