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| SPRING 2012 Flowers Sweet Peas can be planted in sunny borders remembering to tie stems onto supports which will encourage quicker climbing and flowering. Bulbs including lilies and gladioli can be planted out. Pruning of roses should be completed as soon as possible, remembering to remove any dead, diseased or damaged stems. Clematis should be pruned back to just above the lowest shoots. Fuchsias that have survived the winter can be revived keeping the compost slightly moist along with conditions beginning to warm up, then any dead stems should be pruned back. When they begin to grow strongly, watering can be increased along with weekly feeds being started, and, they could also be potted up. Vegetables. Onion sets should be planted 10-15cm (4-6") apart, with the tips just showing above soil level. To prevent onion fly cover with fleece. Shallots can also be planted out now, spacing at 15cm (6") intervals in rows 30cm (12") apart. Time to prick out tomato seedlings. Fork over light soils, and incorporating organic matter, preparation will be ready for plantings and sowings. Sow celery seed in pots during March/April placing them in the greenhouse which will produce plants for planting out from May to June.Once conditions are suitable crops such as leek, pea, lettuce, radish, broad bean, parsnip and early carrot can be sown. Tomato varieties can be sown now in a heated greenhouse. To encourage quick germination sow in a heated propagator, or on a windowsill. Fruit Planting of raspberry canes should be completed by the beginning of this month. Rhubarb can be forced by covering the crowns with either large pots or buckets. Strawberries can be grown in pots giving a bumper crop, and so that the picking season lasts longer why not grow two or three different varieties. Branches damaged by birds on apple and cherry trees should be pruned. Lawns Mower blades should be set so that just 13mm (½") of grass is cut the first time. Control perennial weeds by digging out the roots or using a weedkiller containing Glyphosate. Should moss be a problem on the lawn Moss Killers can be applied at this time. Trees & Shrubs Replanting of trees and shrubs should be carried out before they come into full growth. Container trees should be repotted or top-dressed. Lavatera and hardy fuchsias should be pruned back to live wood. Hedges can be planted at this time by spacing the plants evenly, planting holes should be more than large enough for plant roots, then add some planting mixture to the soil before filling in. Ponds As milder spells arrive fish can be given some food. Now is the time to remove pond heaters so that they can be cleaned and put away until next winter. Plant debris should be cleared away from around the pond. Use a net to scoop out leaves that have fallen into the pond. | SUMMER 2012 Hanging Baskets should have now been be made up. Line your basket with moss ( or a substitute liner), putting a circle of polythene on the bottom, to help water retention. Part fill with. a mixture of peat and vermiculite and place three or four trailing lobelia or ivyleafed geraniums through the sides. Continue filling with peat and place a zonal pelargonium or bush Fuchsia in the centre, surrounding with petunia surfina, bizzy liz, trailing Fuchsia or any number of plants from the'hanging basket' section in your garden centre. Keep well watered!. Plant your container-grown fruit trees now, but keep well watered. Prune Spring flowering trees. Your bedding plants and outdoor Chrysanthemums can be put out mid month removing growing tip to encourage bushy growth. Dahlia tubers should planted 6in deep, dahlia plants can be put out if frost free. Weed. perennial borders and rose beds on a regular basis. Stake tall plants such as Delphiniums. Sow. Biennials such as waIlflowers, forget-me-nots and sweet williams for next Spring. Divide primroses. Roses. Spray regularly with a systemic insecticide and with a fungicide to protect against rnildew and black spot. Apply rose fertilizer. Remove any suckers. Burn any fallen leaves infected by blackspot. Slugs, slugs, slugs. are very partial to new shoots on any plant, especially Hostas and Dahlias. Scatter slug pellets around any susceptible plants. Vegetables. Tomato plants can be put out after hardening off in a cool greenhouse. Pick side shoots out regularly soon as they get l in. in length. Feed with a good liquid fertilizers soon as the first truss has set. Continue sowing some lettuces, carrots, peas, cabbages, spinach and runner beans every three weeks to ensure a continuous crop. Any marrow, cucumber or courgette plants can now be put outside and given liquid manure after two weeks. Earth up potatoes to the neck of plants to ensure tubers do not turn green. Pruning clematis differ according to variety. In general those flowering before June only need a general tidy up. For those after, cut right back to 12 inches. For an excellent container clematis choose'Josephine'which will flower May- September and each bloom can last for five weeks. Fruit. Protect strawberry plants and soft fruit bushes against birds by covering with netting. Bulbs. Can be lifted, if space is needed, after flowering. Deadhead others. Do not cut leaves until dead. Lawns should be raked, aerated and dressed with a selective weedkiller/mosskiller prior to rain. Mow every week if possible. Lay turf, but keep well watered. Ponds. Fish should be fed regularly now that it is warmer. Promptly scoop off any algae/blanket weed that appears on the surface, and add appropriate chemical preparation to the water, to avoid the pea soup effect (available from most Garden Centres). Plant aquatics and marginal plants now until July, deep-water plants until September. | |||||
| Derek Parkhouse Email:gardeners@aol.com Copyright © Derek Parkhouse 2012 | ||||||
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