THE GARDEN COMES TO LIFE

THE GARDEN COMES TO LIFE

I am hoping that although it is blowing a blizzard outside as I write this page, there is a strong possibility that spring will have arrived when it appears in print a week later. In between snow showers as the sun emerges, the snow melts and the garden leaps into life for a brief spell.

This March has been the opposite of March 2012 when it was positively sun bathing weather for most of the month. Now if March weather can completely turn around from last year it could be reasonable to hope that the rest of the year will also be the opposite from last year, i.e. 2013 might just be a very dry year. No comments, please, as these are just my thoughts as I plan how to manage my garden for the coming year, but I think I will get the hosepipes ready just in case.

The snowdrops and crocus are now past their best, but the daffodils are now coming out, the first early tulips are showing colour and my wallflower Golden Monarch has started to bloom. Polyanthus grown from seed sown last year has been flowering from the end of February with a lot of promise for more to come as we get into some warmer weather.

Golden flowering saxifrages are totally unaffected by the cold and snow. They spread slowly but quite thickly and are brilliant at smothering out all weeds. They only grow a few inches tall and seem to love scrambling over rocks, walls and path edges. They are a good companion plant with the blue flowering Chionodoxa as well as Anemone blanda, also blue.

The fruit garden

I keep expecting my peach tree to start flowering, as it is usually very early, but not this year, so hopefully when it does flower in April danger of frosts is less likely and pollinating insects will be more abundant. Apple tree flower buds are beginning to swell, with the Oslin coming out first, so the future looks good. No sign of life in pears or plums yet, but saskatoons, blueberries, aronias and blackcurrants are all on the move.

I have purchased and planted three new grape vines outdoors to see what they think of Scotland. They have all been given a south facing fence or shed to keep them warm and sheltered. So my original grape Solaris will get some company with Phoenix, Rondo and Regent. I also wanted to try Siegerrebe but could not find a supplier anywhere, unless I needed a bundle of twenty five vines.

Glasshouse plants

At this time of year the glasshouse is fully occupied with plants in various stages of growth and finding room for everything can be quite a challenge. My glasshouse is unheated, which this year has been tested to the limit. Plants sown in early March in the warmth of a windowsill in a warm room such as onions, broad beans and lobelia soon germinated and want to grow. Normally they go into the glasshouse within a few weeks as they need good light and cooler conditions to keep them sturdy, but frosty nights and day temperatures just above freezing does them no favours. So my sturdy young rooted geranium cuttings got transferred to the cold greenhouse to allow more tender seedlings a few more days of warmth on a windowsill.

Tomato seedlings have now been pricked out into smaller cellular trays to grow on for a couple of weeks before potting up into larger pots. They are on the windowsill with grape vine cuttings, Christmas cactus cuttings and lobelia seedlings soon to be pricked out.

Seed sowing continues with Cape gooseberries, and chilli pepper Jalapeno which I will try this year.

Salads such as lettuce, spring onion, radish and beetroot are due for sowing to give early crops under the protection of low polythene tunnels, but with the season being so cold I am not in a hurry as windowsill space is very limited and the greenhouse is still a bit too cold.

Young buds of tuberous begonias in store are now showing colour, though they have been held back by cold temperatures. The tubers have now been boxed up, watered and I will keep them under a table in a warm room on waterproof trays for a few weeks till they start to grow.

Plant of the week

Rhubarb Timperley Early is my plant of the week as it is the earliest rhubarb variety to emerge in spring making a very welcome sight with the promise of fresh sticks to eat. Results from studies on the health benefits of rhubarb are just about elevating it to superfood status as it has so many favourable attributes. It is high in vitamins C, K and B6, high in dietary fibre, and contains the mineral calcium. The bright red colour of the stems comes from its beneficial range of antioxidants. When cooked it releases polyphenols which help in the fight to destroy some cancer cells.

Other natural compounds found in rhubarb help as a laxative, and others help to lower cholesterol. However the leaves are quite poisonous so always cut the stems about an inch below the leaf. Rhubarb likes good soil, so give it plenty manure or compost as a mulch, some fertiliser, and if you get a glut during the summer it freezes brilliantly and can then be used all year round.

END

PLAN YOUR PEAS AND BEANS

PLAN YOUR PEAS AND BEANS

Peas and beans are an essential part of the vegetable patch rotation. They are the crops that are the heavy feeders together with onions, courgettes and pumpkins, so they get the lion’s share of manure and compost during the winter digging. Prepare the ground in late autumn and leave it rough over winter so it breaks down to a fine tilth for sowing in spring. Several weeks before sowing add a dusting of lime if the soil is likely to be acidic. Peas and beans are ready for picking from early summer till the end of autumn and they can all be frozen for use later. Whilst we are all familiar with the normal freshly picked then lightly boiled peas, some really delicious soups can be made with both peas and broad beans.

They come in a range of types including garden peas, mange tout peas, sugar snap peas, broad beans, runner beans and dwarf French beans. As a healthy food they are at the top of the list being very high in a range of antioxidants, high in protein and minerals, fibre, the vitamins A, B C, E and K and a form of omega-3 fat. They have health benefits for a wide range of ailments.

Peas and beans are all members of the leguminosae family which all have symbiotic bacteria which form nodules on the roots to capture and store atmospheric nitrogen. This is released back into the soil at the end of the crop when the roots rot down. This is why clovers and pea vetches are so popular as green manures sown onto the soil when it is not being used for cropping.

Peas

For the earliest crops peas can be sown in late autumn to early winter in a cold greenhouse and overwintered for planting out about March or early April, but depending on the weather at the time. They do not like cold soil and may rot if it is too cold and wet, but the ground can be warmed up with low polythene tunnels, or they can be covered with fleece. A popular method for autumn and early spring sowing is to use old guttering with end caps and drilled with a few holes for drainage.

Fill it with seed compost and sow the seeds at two to three inches apart each way. When ready for spring planting take out a shallow furrow and slide the plants and compost carefully into the drill.

A good variety for early cropping is Feltham First. Sometimes in good weather you can get a second crop by cutting down the vines after harvesting, but leaving some basal growth. This can grow again in late summer and give another picking in autumn.

Peas need to be kept moist so make sure they are well watered in any dry weather, and mulch where ever you have spare well rotted compost.

Kelvedon Wonder, Onward and Hurst Greenshaft are all very reliable mid season varieties, and for a late crop go back to a fast growing variety like Feltham first.

Most peas require support with pea netting for dwarf varieties, or galvanised wire netting on posts for taller varieties.

Beans

Broad beans are pretty hardy so an early March sowing in a cold greenhouse, or earlier on a warm windowsill in the home will give them a good start. Sow seeds individually in cellular trays and grow on quite cool. They can be planted out after hardening off at the end of March in soil same as for peas. Harvest in late summer in a single operation as most often they are all ready together, then use the land for spring cabbage, late salad crops or sow a green manure to improve soil fertility.
My favourite variety is Aquadulce.

Dwarf French beans and runner beans should not be sown till the soil has warmed up in May or early June. Dwarf beans can be sown in a double row a foot apart and spacing the seeds about four inches apart, or space six inches apart if in a single row. Runner beans need a tall six foot framework of support using bean poles or canes spaced six inches apart, usually in a double row 1.5 feet apart with the canes tied together at the top. They will quickly twine around the canes and reach the top. They are very attractive when covered in red flowers. Keep picking both dwarf and runner beans as they are ready and use fresh or freeze surplus for use later. Tendergreen is a good French bean and Enorma a good runner bean.

Plant of the week

Erythronium is also known as the Dogs Tooth Violet (from the shape of the tuber) and comes into flower in March. The flowers come in a range of colours depending on the species but are all under a foot tall. It is happy in the shade or partial shade and likes moist but not waterlogged soil. Woodlands and woodland fringes are fine where it can enjoy an annual mulch of leafmold or compost as it likes a rich soil. It is best lifted and divided after flowering if you wish it to multiply, though it propagates fairly well from its own seeds scattered close by.

END

ENJOY SALADS ALL YEAR ROUND

ENJOY SALADS ALL YEAR ROUND

Apprentice gardeners in the sixties learn every gardening skill from fruit, flowers and vegetables to sports, woodlands and landscaping. A five year training session gave you a good grasp with most of the practical work done at Duntrune Terrace gardens. The first crops available each year would be radish and lettuce which had been started early in the glasshouse. These were followed on with spring onions. The range was only extended with different varieties of radish and lettuce, some of which could be grown over the winter in beds in the glasshouse. Today gardening has moved on as holiday travel to exotic locations gave us more knowledge of other types of salad and experiments began to see which of these could be grown here.

We now have a far wider range to be grown outdoors and also in our glasshouses which can virtually give us fresh salads all year round.

Early season

I start sowing lettuce, radish, spring onion and beetroot in late March at home in a warm room, introducing them to a windowsill once they have germinated. They will go into my unheated greenhouse after a couple of weeks when they are strong enough. Lettuce gets sown in a shallow seed tray then transplanted into cellular trays to grow on. The rest all go direct into cellular trays.

I prepare some ground previously manured and dug in winter. Add some fertiliser, rake it in then erect low polythene tunnels at least a week before planting to allow the soil to warm up.

As soon as the transplants are big enough they can be planted out under the tunnel allowing just enough space to grow, but remembering you will be harvesting young plants as soon as they are ready for the plate. Keep checking for slugs and water as required.

Summer and autumn

This is the normal season when salads are sown direct into the soil in rows. Only grow enough to use at each harvesting period, and sow more rows in four week successions. The last sowings can last well into winter if it is mild. I have some overwintered lettuce and spring onions that are growing just nicely now having come through the winter just fine.

However we are no longer confined to lettuce, radish and spring onions. There is now a whole lot of other weird and wonderful salads to try out and firstly see if they will grow, and then are they tasty.

Last year I tried Pak Choi, and Sorrel outdoors but they never germinated. However Mizuna, Komatsuna and Tatsoi all grew just fine and lasted well into winter. The salad leaves were very welcome, but not strongly flavoured. Mustard mix was fine with a bit more bite. Corn salad and Polycress did not really impress me, but they are all worth trying again as last year was so cold and wet it never really gave them a fair trial.

Winter months

A crop of early carrots under fleece was harvested in summer and the ground lightly forked over then sown down to a winter blend of salad leaves containing Rocket, Kale, Mustard and Mizuna. These kept fresh, plentiful and usable from autumn till January.

Tomato plants last year were so poor that many were removed in August, The grow bags were opened up and sown with Mizuna, Mustard and Rocket. Growth was quite good and gave us small but very worthwhile quantities of salad leaves all winter. I spread some good fertile topsoil into the growbags and mixed it in before sowing.

I had some Oriental salad seed left so an autumn sowing was made in cellular tray giving me some Tatsoi, Mizuna and Komatsuna plants to overwinter for early spring planting.

I also sowed lettuce Arctic King in the autumn, got a good germination so pricked out forty seedlings into trays to overwinter in my greenhouse. They established very well, but slowly died out over winter, so I only have six left. Arctic King may be fine in the arctic, but the Dundee mild winter soon sorted it out, or maybe it just did not like peat free compost.

Plant of the week

Anemone blanda will form dense drifts of blue flowers only a few inches tall in late March.

A few corms planted in a well drained humous rich soil in full sun or partial shade in the rock garden or woodland fringe will naturalise from spreading of its seeds to form a carpet. The leaves emerge just after flowering but die down in summer as soon as some dry weather prevails. Take care when weeding as the corms are small and not easily seen. Cyclamen hederifolium is a good companion plant as it usually grows and flowers when the Anemone is dormant.

END

CHOOSING THE SUMMER FLOWERS

CHOOSING THE SUMMER FLOWERS

This is a great time to look ahead to the summer months and plan which flowers we will grow in our tubs, beds and hanging baskets. It is very easy to leave it a lot later, then pop down to our local garden centre and see what mature plants are available and buy in as needed. That is a more expensive option, and where is the challenge of trying to grow your own plants with your own selection of seeds. I have a fair few tubs, hanging baskets and annual flower beds as well as always finding plenty of bare patches needing brightened up with a few annuals, so I start with a flower seed order of annuals at the beginning of the year.

I also retain a large collection of mixed bedding tuberous begonias, purchased about fifteen years ago with new colours added to each year. They dry off easily in autumn and get stored in the garage over winter. Growth buds start to swell up at the end of February, when I then box them up into compost and get them started into growth. They are quite slow, so I can keep them under a table in a warm room for a few weeks before they need light, as it is still too cold in my unheated greenhouse.

I also retain a collection of geraniums purchased about the same time and overwintered as small cutting on a sunny windowsill. Geraniums are quite hardy, so do not need too much heat and can get hardened off and put into my greenhouse at the end of March. A small greenhouse heater is available just in case a late frost threatens.

For many years I also kept a good range of Busy Lizzies flowering in summer, then growing them over the winter as a flowering house plant.  In spring I take cuttings to bulk up the numbers for the summer plantings. However difficulty arose from the attentions of red spider mites and greenfly which were difficult to control without a chemical insecticide available, so they now get purchased as small plug plants from garden centres in spring.

Beds and tubs

Geraniums and begonias are my favourites for colour and impact, but supplemented with African marigolds and Canna and Brugmansia dot plants to add the exotic look. I also use petunias, nemesia, Impatiens (Busy Lizzies) and trailing lobelias in my tubs to spill over the edges.

Hanging baskets

Red or white geraniums are brilliant as central plants in baskets and are very reliable. They are kept company with Nemesias, petunias, trailing lobelia and Impatiens. A hanging basket with one colour of Impatiens planted in the sides as well as in the top is a magnificent site when in full flower and totally covering the basket as a round coloured ball.

Gaps in borders

This is where I play around with a few annual seeds such as Cosmos, Star of the Veldt, Livingston daisies and a whole range of poppies including, Ladybird, Shirleys and opium poppies. Some of these (poppies) can be broadcast over prepared soil and raked in, though others (Cosmos and Livingston daisies) are better sown in small cellular trays then transplanted once they are a decent size.

Seed sowing

Start sowing now with Lobelia, African marigolds in March, then in early April most others can be sown. I sow most half hardy and some hardy plant seeds in seed trays then prick out into cellular trays once they are big enough.

Use proper seed compost rather than general purpose compost, as most composts are now very low in peat with a range of other organic matter replacing it. Not all plants grow well in these new mediums. I have been getting very poor germination with peat free or reduced peat composts so experiment to find your own best brand or add extra grit to improve surface drainage. Some plants are very vulnerable to damping off, especially impatiens, petunias and lobelia, so give a watering of Cheshunt compound to young but mature seedlings if you feel they could be attacked. Liability to botrytis increases in cool low light damp spells of weather, like all of last year.

Plant of the week

Pulmonaria commonly known as lungwort, but has over another dozen common names as it can be very variable in appearance. The blue to pink flowers bloom very early in spring on a low growing herbaceous plant that will associate very well with yellow doronicums and snowdrops and crocus all flowering about the same time. It is very easy to grow as long as it never dries out as it likes a moist, but not wet soil and will be happy in shade and partial shade. It does not have deep roots so propagates easily from dividing up the clump. The spotted leaves go dormant in late summer or earlier if a dry spell goes on too long.

END