Posts Tagged ‘seeds’
Written by Vegetable Gardening News on 14 February 2010
A cutting garden is your chance to tear up the rulebook on planting – so mix lights and brights with fragrant posies and wild one-offs
This year I am planning two cutting gardens. The first and smaller of the two is to be planted this month; the second is being built this winter, with the aim to have it up and running for annuals by the summer. In many ways a cutting garden is an extravagant idea, because cutting flowers is the most luxurious way of enjoying them at close quarters, but I have no intention of either of these gardens feeling like an indulgence. They will be workmanlike and take their aesthetic from the vegetable garden or the allotment. You should be able to harvest flowers as you would a row of beans, and leave with an armful – and not the slightest twinge of guilt.
A friend and fellow designer in America has been making cutting gardens for some time, by simply fencing off an area from the garden proper. Within these vermin-proof enclosures, Edwina's vegetables, herbs and flowers are lined out in rows, with paths wide enough for a barrow to pass between them. The paths are mulched with pine needles in her own garden, as she has a wood of pine at the back, but it could just as easily be bark to keep things simple. Everything is reduced down to the most practical way of growing things: the tallest plants are at the back, so they don't put the shorter plants in the shade, and there is not a care in the world for colour – if Edwina likes it, it works. Where most garden owners would never dream of trusting you with a pair of secateurs to pick a posy for the table, it is a different thing for Edwina, and it is standard practice to be issued with a couple of buckets – one to fill with spuds and beans, the other with as many flowers as you see fit to liven up the table for lunch.
In planning my cutting gardens I have enjoyed a certain freedom, with plants that are not easily worked into the garden proper. Because as soon as you pick a flower and take it out of context, it becomes an object that you can look at for itself. Dahlias with stripes suddenly become an option – if the stripes don't work this year, then something else will next. Likewise, if you want to grow "Blue Moon" roses for their scent and curiosity, then do so – a solitary flower will be a delight in a bedside jug.
Having a brief is important, because the cutting garden needs to work hard if it is to be truly productive. The larger the area is, the more relaxed you can be about plants that might bloom only once. Bearded iris can be enjoyed without having to worry about the remaining 11 months of the year, when they are doing little more than leaf. And if you have enough room for peonies, there's the creaminess of the "Duchesse de Nemours", which, picked in bud, will rupture to perfume a room. In a decent-sized cutting garden, a whole row of once-blooming Anchusa azurea "Loddon Royalist" can easily be accommodated as a luxury, but in the main the plants should be doers, and able to come again after they have been harvested.
Planning for a long season of flowers (or several seasons) is important, so we are using modern English roses from David Austin to extend the season. We have chosen varieties that are disease resistant, as we want to run the cutting gardens on organic principles because they are close to the fruit and vegetables, but we have been free with colour as long as there is scent. We are also intercropping, using lines of Alchemilla under the roses, as "Lady's Mantle" is good filler in a vase.
The rest of the perennials are set out in rows one metre apart. Within the rows they are planted in a double line, a foot apart, and the gaps between the main rows are planted with bulbs, so you can fill a jug with tulips and not hold back – or worry that they might not come back a second year. The tulips can be dug out after they have flowered and replaced with annuals – Scabiosa atropurpurea "Chile Black", wild gloriosa daisies (Rudbeckia hirta) and mixed cosmos where a mix would never do in the flowerbeds. Whereas the perennials might take a couple of years to come to cropping well, the annuals will provide for you in a matter of months.
The smaller of our two cutting gardens is in the country, so we have decided to go two ways with the brief. The first is to use highly ornamental flowers that are in contrast to the rest of the garden, which feathers to hedgerow. There are lilies in rows that can easily be picked over for lily beetle, blowsy chrysanthemums and dahlias for the autumn. In contrast, the second route is to use plants that have a super-nature quality about them: vivid thistles such as Eryngium "Electric Haze" and Cersium rivulare "Atropurpureum", and the peachy-flowered recurrent Geum "Princess Juliana" to work in among a bundle of native grasses or cow parsley. There will be giant daisies such as Leucanthemum "T E Killin", larger-than-life Scabiosa caucasica "Blausiegel" and rows of Michaelmas daisies so that you can fill a room with them come the autumn.
It is an exciting prospect planning a garden with freedom in mind – our very own trial ground and a place where gardening can break the usual rules. ★
dan.pearson@observer.co.uk
Reader offer Observer readers can take advantage of this offer on flower seeds suitable for cutting. This superb collection contains the following: Delphinium "Pacific Giants", Eryngium alpinum "Superbum", Dahlia "Pompon" mixed, Honesty Purple and White mixed, Lavender "Hidcote", penstemon mixed colours, Sunflower Hallo, Sweet Pea Incense mixed, Shasta Daisy "Alaska" and Cosmos "Sensation" mixed. One collection costs just £9.88, saving £9 on the normal retail price. Buy two collections for £17.76 and save a further £2. Call 0330 333 6852, quoting ref OBDP141, or send a cheque made payable to Observer Reader Offers with your order, to Observer, OBDP141, Rookery Farm, Joys Bank, Holbeach St Johns, Spalding, PE12 8SG. Price includes UK mainland p&p. We reserve the right to substitute any varieties for others of equal or greater value. Dispatch will be within 28 days, supplied as packets of seed
Dan Pearson | Gardens is a post from: How to Vegetable Garden
Tags: birds, flower, garden, garden birds, gardening, gardening advice, herbs, how to vegetable garden, lilies, organic, plants, roses, secateurs, seed, seeds, vegetable, vegetable garden, wildlife
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Written by admin on 09 February 2010
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
Do my garden birds know more than me and the weather forecasters? Sometimes it makes me wonder. This is the most severe winter we have had for years. Snow, freezing temperatures that have not even reached as high as the norm for this time of the year and yet as soon as the snow and ice have cleared the birds are singing like spring is just around the corner. Not only are the garden birds singing to claim their territories but the Jackdaws are trying to build a nest in my chimney. With the winds coming from the north temperatures are still below what they should be so what is it that instils so much encouragement in them? Maybe it is the lengthening days.
Food for our feathered friends must be in short supply; a Greater Spotted Woodpecker is visiting and feeding on the large fatball I hang in the tree near the seed feeder. I have had them visiting and taking peanuts from the feeder but this is the first time I have seem them take fat. The Blackbirds are still coming to me to beg for dried fruit but even they are now taking peanuts from the feeder.
The garden birds may be preparing for spring but I think it is going to be a while before I can do any gardening outside. The lawns are looking a bit sad after the snow and I have never seen so many shrubs, including hedging, with such burnt leaves for a long time. Mother Nature has a way of recovering from these setbacks but it would not surprise me to find the odd shrub and perennial plant not putting in an appearance this year.
Probably another week and I will be making a sowing of tomato seeds. As decided after last years growing season I will just be growing Harbinger. There are newer tomato varieties that will produce fruits all the same size. However that is not a consideration for me, my tomatoes can ripen at many different sizes and I can put up with that in exchange for the excellent flavour.
In spite of the very bad weather my early flowering Mohonia is still providing colour. I have met gardeners who do not like this group of shrubs but I am a fan. There were a couple in the garden when I moved here and I have added to the collection. Very accommodating, nice yellow flowers with a pleasing perfume that can fill a garden. They make great “full stop” plants in a border or can be used as architectural plants due to their shapely (and spiky!) dark green leaves.
Tags: birds, feathered friends, flower, garden, garden birds, garden diary, garden tools, gardener, gardeners, gardening, hints and tips, how to vegetable garden, lawns, leaves, plants, pot, seed, seeds, shrub, shrubs, tomatoes, vegetable, vegetable garden, wildlife
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Written by admin on 09 February 2010
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
There is a new pecking order in the back garden. Most of the year it is the blackbirds who boss this part of the garden, chasing off the thrushes that are brave enough to attempt a quick meal. But temporarily this has changed with a thrush relative, the Fieldfare, now in charge. The Fieldfare is a long-tailed thrush with contrasting plumage pattern and defends its territory with great authority. With the ground so hard and the snow on the ground it seems unfair that one bird should claim the apple that we throw onto the lawn and so we cut a couple of apples into pieces and spread them around the back garden. That did not solve the problem; it just gave the Fieldfare more of an area to protect!
It is not all bad news for the blackbirds however as the Fieldfare does not seem interested in the dried fruit that I put into a bowl for them. Yet anyway!
The other bird that has arrived with the Fieldfare is another thrush relative, the Redwing. The Redwing is the smallest of our thrushes but still a pretty bird with distinctive markings. Two things make it easy to distinguish, the first being the cream eyebrow stripe and the second rusty red flanks. The Redwings fed with the Fieldfare when they first arrived but now seem just to patrol the front garden, polishing off what was left of the holly berries.
These two visitors, and that is what they are as they will stay for the winter and then disappear, are welcome but over the Christmas period a not so welcome guest made its mark in the garden. Topping up the bird seed I saw something out of the corner of my eye that did not look right. There had been heavy frosts and some snow so I had not really been taking much notice of the garden borders but it was not hard to see that something had been at work. Soil had been kicked or flicked over quite a distance and it then became clear where it had originated. A large hole had been burrowed and quite deep too. Roots of plants were hanging down inside the burrow but probing with a stick found nothing at home. My first thought was that it was a badger foraging as there is a family with a set in the field behind but the hole narrowed too quickly. It must be a rabbit trying to make a new home although I have not spotted any wild rabbits for quite some time. The hole is now filled in and thankfully no more holes have been dug.
As you might have guessed from the mention of snow and hard frosts not much gardening if any has been possible for a while. At least my seeds for the new season are on order and once the package appears on the mat I can dream of better weather and a new growing season.
I am sure fellow listeners to the BBC Gardeners Question Time radio programme will be as shocked and saddened as I am by the news of the death of John Cushnie. I will miss his sense of humour. Whenever he was on the panel you were guaranteed a laugh as well as sound gardening advice. But he never claimed to be the all knowing gardening expert. A member of the public would ask a question and the chairman would ask John to answer only to hear the words, “I have absolutely no idea”. How refreshing for “an expert” to admit that in front of millions of listeners. When you listen to a voice regularly on the radio you picture what that person looks like. Sometimes you are right but most of the time you are not. I have not heard anyone say that John Cushnie looked anything like what was imagined from his voice. Maybe it is something to do with that gentle Irish brogue. Farewell and thank you John Cushie, may you rest in peace.
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Written by admin on 27 January 2010
Do my garden birds know more than me and the weather forecasters? Sometimes it makes me wonder. This is the most severe winter we have had for years. Snow, freezing temperatures that have not even reached as high as the norm for this time of the year and yet as soon as the snow and ice have cleared the birds are singing like spring is just around the corner. Not only are the garden birds singing to claim their territories but the Jackdaws are trying to build a nest in my chimney. With the winds coming from the north temperatures are still below what they should be so what is it that instils so much encouragement in them? Maybe it is the lengthening days.
Food for our feathered friends must be in short supply; a Greater Spotted Woodpecker is visiting and feeding on the large fatball I hang in the tree near the seed feeder. I have had them visiting and taking peanuts from the feeder but this is the first time I have seem them take fat. The Blackbirds are still coming to me to beg for dried fruit but even they are now taking peanuts from the feeder.
The garden birds may be preparing for spring but I think it is going to be a while before I can do any gardening outside. The lawns are looking a bit sad after the snow and I have never seen so many shrubs, including hedging, with such burnt leaves for a long time. Mother Nature has a way of recovering from these setbacks but it would not surprise me to find the odd shrub and perennial plant not putting in an appearance this year.
Probably another week and I will be making a sowing of tomato seeds. As decided after last years growing season I will just be growing Harbinger. There are newer tomato varieties that will produce fruits all the same size. However that is not a consideration for me, my
tomatoes can ripen at many different sizes and I can put up with that in exchange for the excellent flavour.
In spite of the very bad weather my early flowering Mohonia is still providing colour. I have met gardeners who do not like this group of shrubs but I am a fan. There were a couple in the garden when I moved here and I have added to the collection. Very accommodating, nice yellow flowers with a pleasing perfume that can fill a garden. They make great “full stop” plants in a border or can be used as architectural plants due to their shapely (and spiky!) dark green leaves.
Do My Garden Birds Know Something That I Do Not? is a post from: How to Vegetable Garden
Tags: birds, feathered friends, flower, garden, garden birds, garden diary, garden tools, gardener, gardeners, gardening, hints and tips, how to vegetable garden, lawns, leaves, plants, pot, seed, seeds, shrub, shrubs, tomatoes, vegetable, vegetable garden, wildlife
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Written by admin on 12 November 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
Why a Vegetable Garden?
Being aware to what you eat is what physicians would usually suggest to you. If you have been eating sufficient quantity of healthy foods such as fish, meat, fruits and vegetables, then fret not. Because some of these hold harmful chemicals, perhaps you should start switching to organically grown vegetables
and other food products.
Essentially, the mainstream of these organic vegetables and other food products have been genetically changed making it a smart choice for buyers. For reasons of better production and profit, some farmers may tend to employ some assorted techniques which may include the use of chemicals and fertilisers to make them look and feel larger even if they are aware that this can be damaging to your health. Producing organically raised crops is not that difficult and needs nothing magical whatsoever, but having some productive soil, sunlight, water and some fertiliser can just do the trick.
Home Garden By following this simple plan, a study shows that eating foods and vegetables on a regular basis which have been grown organically can help maintain a heartier life because those may contain fifty percent more vitamins and minerals than those made from conventional methods. These organically grown vegetables taste better compared to other processed or commonly produced products giving you the feeling that you will live longer by consuming these everyday. This is because although fertilisers and pesticides have their benefits, they get rid of essential vitamins and nutrients so you are not getting the required daily allowance that your body requires. Another benefit of eating organic vegetables and food is that you help the environment which happens because farmers are no longer using harmful chemicals and put these into the ground. The land which they have cultivated on can be established by the next generation because the land that has been educated for so long, is still fertile.
In stores, you may compare the prices of those conventionally grown products to those with those organically grown vegetables and other items and you will see that the latter can be found really expensive. Your life is one invaluable treasure and something that you should take care of, so budgeting yourself towards eating the best foods can just block you from acquiring the quality of life that we all want and need. You should think about going organic as this will profit not only you but also people around you especially your family and friends in the future, more than you think it could.
Garden Tools
Home Garden The price of organic vegetables and other products will go down in time if more farmers resolve to take part in its production thus introducing and selling it to the markets. It is only because there is a tiny department of this available now in the store but when it becomes an industry standard, things
will change.
Until that happens, you can probably plant and grow these in your backyard, you just need the supplies especially the seeds or the fully grown plants to help you get started. You should take part in assisting these grow not only by splashing water every morning as there are still a lot of other matters that you should recognise to take good care of them and that is by doing some thorough research about it. One of the numerous things that are getting the introduction of organic foods and vegetables in the market a challenging deal is the fact that US imports from many nations that are not yet practicing organic
planting. For everyone here as well as other countries to enjoy the benefits of organically raised vegetables and fruits – encouragement, proper help and introduction should be started and driven to bring it to the surface.
Tags: garden, garden tools, gardening, plants, seed, seeds, shrub, shrubs, soil, trees, vegetable, vegetable garden
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Written by admin on 23 October 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
I give a lot of lawn tips, but that can get boring sometimes as grass is always green and that’s about it. But gardening with annuals in flower beds is easy too and rewarding, and offers tons of alternatives. Flowers bring color, interest and sweet scents to the garden landscape. Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun. It can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally. Many businesses pay big money for “seasonal color rotation.”
There are some decisions that have to be made before you plant your first seed or sprout. You must decide if you want annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and return again in the spring. When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well as the sun requirements. In most stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s, they have the perennials displayed separately from the annuals so as not to cause confusion.
When flower gardening, you must decide what type of look you want before planting. For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming. If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style.”
You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogs or buy them from a nursery. Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them as this gives instant results with no waiting. After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly.
One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting. When using seeds, just sprinkle them in the flower bed. There is no need to space them or even bury them. Just buy a lot of what you want and let them “fall as they may” to create a wild flush of color. For planting transplants, dig a hole just bigger than the flower pack, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole right side up. Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water. You may want to amend the soil first with some peat moss and mushroom compost as this will aid in flower production through the season.
Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one. Although they might make it on their own, a sprinkling of organic compost or Milorganite will help your flowers proliferate. Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered. To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost. Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished. If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.
Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant; plant it, and water, water, water! Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.
You can also get information on Do It Yourself Pest Control here.
Tags: container, flower, flower bed, flower beds, flower garden, flower gardening, flower gardens, garden, garden landscape, gardening, lawns, organic, plants, pot, roots, seed, seeds, soil
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Written by admin on 22 October 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
Organic gardening is generally considered to be any method of gardening that does not utilize any chemicals or pesticides to maintain the garden. One can practice organic gardening in a vegetable or flower garden – or in any other area in which someone is trying to grow things.
There are many reasons that people want to practice organic gardening. Many people like the idea of wholesome, fresh vegetables that don’t have any form of chemical, possibly poisonous residue on them. Many people like to have plants which will attract a variety of small wildlife, such as butterflies and bees. Many people have small children or pets and don’t want to take the chance that the chemicals frequently used in non-organic gardening could hurt their children or pets.
Organic gardening is not “simple gardening”. Effort is needed to have successful gardens in most situations and this is no exception. One needs to plan the garden before starting it. It is necessary to consider what kind of garden one wants, where it will be kept, how it will be organized and if companion plants are to be included.
Organic gardening needs compost. How to make comppost? Compost is a mixture of topsoil and a variety of organic matter such as leaves, vegetable refuse, manure air and water. This mixture needs to be turned or mixed frequently, so there needs to be room to work with the developing compost. Once the compost is ready, it is used as the basic medium into which the plants or seeds are placed. Generally, the compost is created before the garden is planted.
The location of the garden is important. Does the area get a lot of sun? Will it be high enough so that it won’t be frequently flooded in major rain storms? Will it need any protection if the weather suddenly turns too chilly? Is there easy access to the garden? The location of the plants in the garden must also be considered.
Companion plants are plants that have some kind of natural chemical that repels a variety of insects or diseases. Garlic, for example, planted near roses tends to repel the aphids that frequently attack roses. Oregano is thought to repel the cucumber beetle. Some plants can help repel nematodes. If planned well, it is possible for a gardener to be able to have a flower garden in the exact same spot as a vegetable garden. The geographic location of the garden – is it in Alaska, Nevada, Florida or elsewhere? – will need to be considered when deciding what to plant in an organic gardening.
Tags: bees, butterflies, cucumber, flower, flower garden, garden, gardener, gardening, leaves, organic, organic garden, organic gardening, plants, pot, roses, seed, seeds, soil, vegetable, vegetable garden, wildlife
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Written by 2 on 08 October 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
Annual flowering plants are perhaps the easiest plants you will ever grow. Yet their ease of growth does not limit them from providing continuous color all season long. Whether your yard is small or large, or you are restricted to a small courtyard, annuals are a good choice for you.
Most annuals are grown by sowing seed, either in the early spring in a heated greenhouse or at home in a sunny window sill. Some annuals are planted directly in the soil during warmer weather. Some annuals are so adaptable that you only need to sow them once and they will self seed, producing plants every year. These are considered hardy annuals and need little guidance for regular planting.
On the other hand are annual flowering plants that require early planting indoors and need to be transplanted into the ground when the weather permits. These plants are easily damaged by frost in the early spring but thrive during the warm months of summer.
If you choose to start annuals by seed, you will find a better selection by ordering them through a catalog or online. However, the more limited selections that are found at nurseries and garden centers may be more helpful because of their colorful packaging and that they are likely suitable for your local environment. If you do buy seeds from garden centers, always avoid packets that are faded, yellow, and have been exposed to sunlight as these seeds may not grow well.
The easier way to start annuals is to purchase young plants in the spring that have been started in a greenhouse. Buying starters is a great alternative for people who don’t have the space or resources to start their own from seed. However, buying young plants is always more costly that purchasing seeds.
Growing Annuals in the spring is always exciting for a gardener. So which ever method you choose, you are sure to enjoy beautiful blooms all season long.
More gardening tips for the flower garden throughout the year.
Tags: gardener, greenhouse, seeds
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Written by admin on 11 August 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
The National Trust for Scotland has pledged to become peat free in the next three years. I started my own garden too many years ago to admit to. My first seeds were sown and potted on into a John Innes loam based medium. Then I discovered peat based compost, easy to use and great results. I even started to mix my own compost based on peat from a relatively local source by an old chap who was not in the best of health but his daughter could lift many more bags than I could! I even used it to condition my heavy clay based soil.
Many years later it suddenly became not very politically correct to use peat. Gardeners were strongly encouraged to use alternatives for potting compost. I tried the alternatives that came onto the market, I really tried but they were awful or very difficult to manage. The surface of the compost would be very dry but underneath very wet. Nutrients soon washed out and regular feeding necessary. Another problem was that it was an awful texture to work with especially for seed sowing and pricking out seedlings. Imagine my surprise when listening to a debate on the radio recently involving very well known media gardening experts and gardeners from some large gardens saying that they too had given up trying, one saying that he had lost some very valuable specimens.
Read more in Bumblebees and is Peat a Dirty Word?
Tags: gardeners, seed sowing, seedlings, seeds, soil
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Written by admin on 06 August 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
We are that time of the year and garden season when hints and tips for the vegetable garden once more include the phrase “depending upon where you live”. In warmer regions you will be able to get away with late sowings while cooler regions may wish to take a risk or accept that there may not be enough warm weather to come to get crops to maturity.
Tomatoes
I make no secret of the fact that I am an enthusiastic grower and eater of tomatoes. Early in the season I can buy locally grown tomatoes from a market gerdener but there is nothing like that taste that comes from those freshly picked from your own vines.
Pick those tomatoes that are ripening quickly now and enjoy the abundant harvest.
Irregular watering can lead to problems with blossom end rot in tomatoes so it is advisable to water well during dry spells.
Keep up with potato blight control on outdoor tomatoes to prevent further infection of the crop.
Also keep your eyes peeled for ghost spot, blotchy ripening and greenback. Problems with ripening can be caused by heat damage, lack of feeding or water, or by a genetic tendency in some varieties. Tomato viruses are another problem.
Reading back over this it may not at first glance look like a good advert for growing your own tomatoes but with a sensible care and good housekeeping regime most problems are avoided.
Quick Maturing Crops
Here we go with one of those depending upon where you live:
In warmer areas you can still sow quick maturing salad crops such as summer lettuce, radish, rocket, sorrel, chicory and fennel. Continue to sow spring cabbage, turnips, Oriental vegetables and overwintering onions.
If like me and you have a greenhouse, try sowing salad leaf crops such as lettuce, matzuna, rocket, greek cress and golden purslane in seed trays on the greenhouse benching. Sow seeds thinly, grow to maturity in the seed trays and graze the young leaves so that they cut and cum again.
Remember to regularly pick fast maturing vegetables such as French beans, runner beans, courgettes and cucumbers which will prevent stringiness or toughness and encourage further cropping.
Read more Vegetable Garden in August – Hints and Tips
Tags: cress, cucumber, cucumbers, garden, gardening, greenhouse, hints and tips, leaf crops, leaves, pot, potato blight, runner beans, salad, salad crops, seed, seed trays, seeds, tomatoes, vegetable, vegetable garden
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Written by admin on 13 June 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
It is June and everything in the garden is starting to flourish, especially the weeds!
Spring Flowering Plants and Bulbs
If you have not already done so cut back dead bulb but do wait until the foliage dies down naturally as cutting back too early can lead to no flowers next spring.
Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of bulbs after they have finished flowering, overcrowded bulbs may stop flowering.
Cut back clumps of spring and early flowering perennials. Hellebores and Pulmonaria produce new and attractive foliage and stay more compact.
Cut back the flowered stems of Euphorbias back to ground level leaving the more attractive foliage. Take care not to get the milky sap on your skin as this can result in blisters.
Summer Bedding Plants
A great way to produce a good show of bedding is to sow hardy annuals directly into the ground. There is the possibility of your garden landscape scheme not turning out as you have dreamt as there is always the danger that one of your sown varieties fails. It is a good idea to have back ups sown in trays whether that be hardy or half hardy annuals.
The hardy annuals sown outdoors should now be thinned out. Do this if practical in two or three stages at fortnightly intervals. Final spacings should be between 4-8in (10-20cm) using the higher figure for tall or spreading plants and the lower figure for smaller plants.
If you have not sown under cover and the weather has not been perfect for early sowings it is not too late to direct sow for the garden seeds of a few fast growing, late-flowering hardy annuals such as Clarkia, Calendula (pot marigolds) and Godetia. I did this in my first ever garden and was very pleased with the result.
Use annual bedding to fill gaps in herbaceous borders.
Plant out dahlias and cannas and if there is no longer a danger of frost.
If you have not already done so it is time to plant out your summer bedding and seed-raised plants. Always make sure they are well watered in, keep moist during dry weather and try to water an area wider than just where you have planted your young, succulent and delicious to eat youngsters. It can help to put slugs and snails off the scent where just damping the area where your plants have just gone in gives them excellent conditions to slide in and munch.
Containers, window boxes, garden pots and tubs can be planted up with summer bedding. They may sulk but if well watered in and covered with horticultural fleece on a cold night and they will soon establish and race away.
For more timely tips read The Flower Garden in June
Tags: container, containers, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, garden, garden ideas, garden landscape, gardeners, gardening, gardening advice, gardening questions, gardening tips, hints and tips, plants, pot, pots, seed, seeds, slug, slugs
Posted in Flower garden tips, Gardening for Beginners, garden, gardening tips | No Comments »
Written by admin on 22 April 2008
You Can Start Beekeeping Today Even If You're An Absolute Beginner
Looking at my notes from last year the weather at this time was hot, very hot for the time of year. My tomatoes were romping away and other seedlings demanding attention as they grew at an amazing rate. Then guess what happened? The weather turned colder, a lot colder. The tomatoes continued to look very healthy but took ages to set fruit. Bedding plants that had raced away could not be planted out into the border as it was too cold and some had to have the growing tips nipped out to hold them back and help them to bush.
When will Spring arrive this year?
Tags: garden, gardeners, gardening, gardening advice, gardening questions, gardening tips, greenhouse, greenhouse gardening, Greenhouses, hints and tips, plants, seed, seed sowing, seedlings, seeds, tomatoes, trees
Posted in Flower garden tips, Gardening for Beginners, garden, gardening tips | No Comments »
