Spring 2010 Cornish Gardener 19

Magnificant magnolias

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ake up to the magic of magnolia this spring! For stunning displays

of early blooms you can’t get better than early flowering magnolias. Appearing just before the leaves anytime now, flowers are very showy and can be fragrant depending on variety. And as with the best garden plants, magnolias offer beauty at other times too with elegant growth habits, attractive buds and even ornamental fruit

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f you’d like to bring one of these ‘star performers’ into your garden then the stylish Magnolia stellata makes a great first choice. This deciduous shrub has a compact, bushy habit so it’s ideal in quite small spaces. It flowers profusely in early to mid-spring, producing big, (12cm across) tough, yet delicate-looking flowers which are sometimes pure white, sometimes faintly pink-flushed. The radial pattern of the petals gives the star-like effect. A bigger tree producing similar shaped but pale lilac pink flowers is Magnolia X loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’. This is another great choice, flowering

profusely and reaching 8m at maturity.

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tars aren’t the only flowers that these plants can offer, magnolias can

also deliver rich, goblet shaped blooms. Take, for example, varieties of Magnolia soulangeana. ‘Rustica Rubra’ bears dark purple flowers (milky-white on the insides) in mid to late spring, before the leaves appear. The different varieties of Soulangeana achieve a height and spread at maturity of approximately 6m. Magnolia ‘Susan’ is another to look out for if big, fragrant, goblet-shaped flowers are what you want. A compact, upright, deciduous shrub, ‘Susan’ is ideal where space is relatively limited. It achieves an approximate height and spread at maturity of 4m and 3m respectively.

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ll the magnolias mentioned are fully hardy. They will perform best if planted in moist, humus rich, well drained soil. They are happiest if soil pH is neutral to acid.

MAGNOLIA soulangeana, one of the most beautiful of these lovely trees, big, bold and easy to grow

Making light of the garden

LIGHTING up your garden means you can continue to enjoy your garden well into the night during the warmer seasons. But it has plenty of other uses as well. Even in winter a well lit garden offers security and safety, lighting up pathways and steps to make sure you can reach the front door safely, or pop into the garden to pick some herbs when the sun goes down. Increased security is one of the most obvious benefits of outdoor lighting. This capability of improved lighting is underlined by a recent Home Office report that found increased lighting was better than installing CCTV for reducing crime. You can fit security lights to ensure that main entry points to the house are lit. They can be controlled by either a switch indoors, a passive infrared motion detector (PIR) which senses body heat or a combination of both. Make sure that if using a motion detector the lights are positioned carefully so as not to be triggered by passing cars. It makes sense to install security lighting on

a different circuit to the garden lighting so that the two can be used separately. Lighting in the garden can provide dramatic after dark decorative effects. These include spotlighting a particular tree or architectural plant; uplighting a tree's branches from its trunk base; replicating strong shafts of moonlight; creating shadows or silhouetting plants. Use spread lights to throw pools of lights or beams onto and along pathways and steps.

Steps can also be illuminated using recessed or flush-mounted lights that are set in the risers. Just as with indoor lighting when dealing with outdoors lighting, it is essential to get the electrics rights. Electricity is a powerful friend but can be a dangerous enemy.

Only those light fittings specifically made for use outdoors should be used – the use of armoured cable is best. Electric cables should be buried at least 45cm below paving and 75cm below lawns and flowerbeds. Outdoor electric sockets must be protected by a RCD (residual current

device). This minimises the risk from an electric shock if you do happen to damage or slice open the electric cable. To ensure a safe outdoor electrical installation, homeowners are advised to employ a qualified electrician who is a member of a recognised trade association such as the Electrical Contractors’ Association. To become a member of the ECA, the contractor must pass stringent qualifying requirements. Furthermore ECA members offer their customers a number of safeguards. These include a warranty that provides assurances that all the electrical work complies with all relevant standards. A bond can also be provided that ensures all work will be carried out should the original contractor become insolvent. Both schemes are underwritten by the Electrical Contractors Insurance Company and supported by ay Inspection on Demand service that provides for an independent inspection of work if either the customer or electrician has cause for concern. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32