SUMMER FLOWERS

SUMMER FLOWERS

Sophie with clove scented pinks

Dahlia Otto's Thrill

We have had a fantastic spell of summer weather, followed by the rain, and the garden flowers have put on a brilliant display, apart from those that suffered in the drought, got their leaves scorched by too hot sunshine and those that got blown over by the gales. This year will be remembered as a very hot year, and it remains to be seen whether the next hot year is coming soon. My memory of hot summers goes far back to 1976 and 1959, the year I started work as an apprentice gardener in early July based in the Howff Cemetery. There was no rain for three months, and then the heavens opened up in a deluge. It was also a fantastic year for flowers at their best around McManus Gallery, Sea Braes, the City Churches and Baxter Park and many other Parks Department parks and open spaces.

Oriental lilies

This year my garden has been a mass of flowers from early spring. The mid summer thunderstorms were a bit much for some plants, so they had a wee rest before resuming flowering as normality returned. It is hard to pick out the winners as so many plants put out masses of flowers. My red geraniums have been the show stealers both at home in beds, tubs and hanging baskets, but you needed to remove spent flowers to give room for the next blossom. Roses were also having a great time, and again they kept flowering provided the spent flowers were removed before they went to seed. French marigolds and petunias both loved the summer heatwave, but there was a battle with slugs as the ground needed constant watering which suited the slugs.

Red geranium

Tuberous begonias, now well over twenty years old were a bit slow to flower but once they began they were a mass display with great impact. My secret is to split the corms in spring by chopping through them with a trowel once I can see where the new shoots are. It may be a bit of rough treatment, but they never complain.

Sweet peas quickly put on a great show, but keeping them from running to seed was a constant problem. Garden pinks were in their element as they just love hot dry conditions as long as they get some watering now and then. The scent was wonderful, and just as they were going over the strongly perfumed oriental lilies took centre stage. A few years ago I purchased a few, and then the next year a

Anemone Honorine Jobert

few more and now I devote a lot of garden space to them. They are great companion plants for planting amongst spring flowering bulb drifts, coloured stemmed cornus and willow which get chopped back to stools in early April, as well as amongst low growing spring flowering azaleas. They add colour to many areas which otherwise would be green, but dull.

Hanging baskets with spring flowering pansies were replaced with geraniums, petunias, lobelia and impatiens, but the pansies will continue to flower for many months, so plants were carefully

Poppies and geraniums

removed and planted in a border that had room to spare.

Chrysanthemums, dahlias and gladioli grown for cut flower started to open up at the beginning of August. They enjoyed the hot spell in June and July and put on

Shasta daisies and delphiniums

strong growth so now flowering can begin and continue till late autumn.

Annual poppies, candytuft, cornflower, Livingston daisies and godetia were sown on bare areas where spring bulb foliage has been removed and grow quickly to flower from August onwards.

The herbaceous border is now showing the summer flowers of shasta daisies, day lilies, oriental lilies, Japanese anemonies and delphiniums. The show continues as plants and gardeners reaped the benefits of this long hot summer.

Winter salads

Wee jobs to do this week

Now is a good time to look ahead to the late autumn and early winter to make sure there are some salads available as there are some varieties that are fairly hardy but still tender on the plate. Sow lettuce Hilde or Winter Density and spring onions on land cleared of a previous crop. The ground will already be in good heart so no need for compost or manure. Just firm the soil, rake level and take out drills about a foot apart. Germination is quick at this time of year so some thinning may be necessary, or use the thinnings for another row.

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SUMMER FRUITS

SUMMER FRUITS

This year will go down as one of the hottest in memory, and it has been brilliant for most fruit crops. They got off to a poor start after a miserable winter with the “Beast from the East” and a non existent spring lacking sunshine, but fruit tree pollination was excellent on trees covered in masses of flowers. The potential was strong for a good fruit harvest, though it would be about three to four weeks late due to rotten climate at the beginning of the year.

Anna picks Big Ben blackcurrants

However, along came the heat wave lasting a couple of months and crops made up for lost time, though some ripened fast and cropped heavily, but over a shorter period. Although the long hot sunny days were a tonic it came with very dry weather so constant watering was necessary to keep plants alive.

Strawberries were first off the block. Fruits were large and sweet with early, midseason and autumn fruiting varieties all fruiting together. Unfortunately that this gave us a glut, then from mid July onwards there was none left. I hope my autumn perpetual variety Flamenco picks up again as we go through summer. At City Road Allotments everyone was getting great crops, so although I never

Saskatoons in fruit

netted all my strawberry rows, I only noticed two berries which the local blackbirds had eaten. They could have been spoiled for choice.

Blackcurrants got picked in early July with massive crops and huge berries. Big Ben was smaller than expected but very sweet, whereas Ben Conan was not so sweet but fruit size was huge. Crops gave us plenty to eat fresh, some for compote, some for jam, some in the freezer for future use and enough for my three demijohns of wine.

Redcurrants were very sweet but did not crop as heavily as last year, so no redcurrant wine brewing in 2018. They also suffered a bad attack of leaf blister aphids.

Gooseberries gave a massive crop which weighed many branches down to the ground and sawfly maggots swarmed out when I took my eye off the ball for a couple of days. I just managed to tackle them with a quick spray before they did too much damage. Huge crops will give plenty for the kitchen and I will get my three demijohns of vintage gooseberry wine. Some berries were lost due to hot sunshine blistering the fruit making it unusable.

Raspberry Glen Dee

Raspberries were doing just fine putting on a lot of growth in the sunny weather coupled with my constant watering, then along came the early summer gales and two rows got flattened. Strong tall cane growth with full foliage cover got hit so hard that the supporting posts broke off at ground level and flattened a couple of rows. Once the gale died down Glen Dee got its posts replaced, but a lot of canes of autumn fruiting Polka snapped off at ground level. Picking continues however on Glen Dee and Glen Fyne, and the remnants of Polka are also producing a crop of massive berries.

Apple The Oslin

Saskatoons are having a fantastic year with heavy crops of large sweet black fruiting bunches easy to pick. Nets were put in place in mid July, but this year there is no sign of our marauding blackbird. Plenty fruits to eat, freeze and brew, as this makes another fantastic wine after its three years maturing in demijohns.

Bramble Helen was always reliable to give the first fruits in August, but this year the first fruits were ready in mid July, and sweeter than ever.

Apple Oslin, the Arbroath Pippin is usually my first apple of the season. It is quite delicious, but can suffer a lot of brown rot in a bad year, but not this year without any rain. First fruits were picked at the end of July, with more to follow and Discovery ripening fast so not far behind.

Wee jobs to do this week

Pea crops in succession

Many crops such as salads, onions, turnips, beetroot, peas and early potatoes are ripening ahead of normal due to the hot summer and some three years old strawberry beds which have finished cropping are getting grubbed out. All of these areas can be used for another quick maturing crop of lettuce, spring onions, rocket, radish and early peas. Give them a light fork over, firm down, raking level and adding some fertiliser before sowing. Watering will be essential if the ground is dry.

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SUMMER FLOWERING SHRUBS

SUMMER FLOWERING SHRUBS

Hydrangea Charme

Shrubs are invaluable planted around garden perimeters to establish boundaries, give some privacy and adjacent to patio areas to shelter from winds. However this hot summer has seen us look for a shady and windy spot to keep cool away from the blistering sun, though this all changes when temperatures return to normal and we start to seek

Berberis darwinii

out a sunny sheltered spot. Shrubs come in all sizes from ground cover Cistus to huge Philadelphus, Viburnums and Lilacs. Some may be evergreen like the Ceanothus smothered in blue blossom in early summer and the Euonymus which is grown for its colourful foliage in silvers and gold rather than its flowers, but it is a great ground cover plant that stands out in a crowd. Shrub roses were covered a few weeks ago, but must be included in a top selection of the best colourful shrubs.

For those gardening on dry soils or at a maritime location on sand Senecio, Cistus, Rosemary, Lavender, brooms, (Cytisus) and gorse (Genista) and many shrub roses will be happy to grow there.

Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias are late spring to early summer shrubs that prefer a more moist soil that retains moisture, but is still well drained and tends towards a more acidic nature. Down at ground level the heathers (Erica and

Cistus Silver Pink

Calluna) are brilliant to cover ground, smother weeds, are easy to maintain and most flower from early spring e.g. Erica carnea, till autumn with Calluna H. E. Beale. Hypericum calycinum is also great for ground cover provided it keeps clear of rust.

A few good low to medium flowering shrubs will include the Potentilla, Senecio, Cistus purpureus and Silver Pink, Hypericum Hidcote, Hydrangea Charme and Helianthemums. Where there is plenty room try some of the larger shrubs like the white scented Philadelphus, Lilacs, Escallonia, Berberis darwinii and Buddleia. Eucryphia with a mass of white flowers in mid summer is probably a small columnar tree, but can be a shrub size for many years. Buddleia is another large shrub, but is pruned to six inches from

Euonymus

the ground every winter. It can easily grow six to eight feet in one summer depending on weather and produces a large flower spike in a range of colours, though my favourite was always the dark purple Black Knight. Fuchsia Mrs Popple normally grows up to five feet tall, but can get cut back to ground level in winter but nearly always recover and put on good growth in spring. By summer they are back to four feet tall and in flower.

Fences and walls are favourite places for climbing shrubs Solanum crispum has potato like flowers and can be very vigorous. It is very attractive in flower, but it produces berries that are highly poisonous. Eccremocarpus scaber is an evergreen

Fuchsia Mrs Popple

with orange tubular flowers. It can be difficult to get established, but then becomes quite rampant.

Clematis and Honeysuckle need something to clamber up, and the honeysuckle has an outstanding perfume. Clematis montana rubens puts on a fantastic show in early summer and just loves to scramble if space permits.

Saskatoons

Wee jobs to do this week

Saskatoon bushes started to turn colour early July so nets had to

be put in place to stop birds feeding on the crop. Blackbirds totally love these berries due to their sweetness. Picking will start towards the middle of the month and last about two weeks. Berries are eaten fresh in breakfast cereal, at lunch with raspberries and yogurt, and made into jam with the addition of some rhubarb as the acidity of the rhubarb balances the sweetness of the saskatoons. There is always a spare batch of about 10.5 pounds for my annual three demijohns of wine.

City Road Allotment Gardens have their Open Day on Sunday 29^th July from 11am to 3pm with plenty of fruit, vegetables, flowers, jams, chutney and of course tablet for the kids. The community hut will be offering teas, coffee and home baking. Visitors are welcome to wander round our plots and see how we grow our fruit and vegetables as well as exotic figs, cherries, sweet corn and outdoor grapes.

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PEONIES

PEONIES

Peonies are herbaceous perennials that have huge bright flowers that can be show stealers in the garden during May and June. They are very easy to grow on most soils but prefer one with some clay in it provided it is well drained. Plant in full sun or partial shade. Purchase bare root plants in the dormant season or containerised ones at any time.

Peony Shima Nishiki

Tree peonies are usually container grown and come as grafted plants. Normally plant the herbaceous types so the dormant buds are just below the surface as they do not like deep planting and this would inhibit flowering for a few years.

Peony suffruticosa

Prepare soil by digging over and adding plenty of compost or well rotted manure as they can be gross feeders to support large strong healthy leaves. Plant the tree peonies with the graft union a few inches below the surface. This will encourage it to grow its own roots and prevent the top breaking off at the graft union in strong gales. Deep planting will also discourage suckering from the rootstock, but if disaster occurs do not dig them out and discard as the rootstock can also flower and be very attractive. If the tree peony has been propagated from cuttings, then plant at the same depth as in the pot. All peonies are best supported with strong staking as the huge flowers are heavy and will bend over if not supported and suffer from soil splashing the blooms in wet weather.

Peony panoramio

The flowers can be very impressive as a cut flower in a vase, and some varieties are lightly scented.

Good varieties for scent include the pale pink Alexander Fleming and Raspberry Sundae, white Festiva Maxima and Krinkled White, the pale yellow Honey Gold and pink Tom Eckhardt.

Peonies do not seem to suffer from many pests and diseases but occasionally mildew may affect them, as can botrytis of the flowers and leaves in a wet year. Remove any infections to prevent the disease from spreading. Sometimes caterpillars can eat at the foliage, but are easily spotted so just

Peony Sarah Bernhardt

remove them by hand. Ants sometimes swarm onto the large flower buds as they often have a sticky secretion but soon disappear once the flowers open.

Herbaceous peonies well worth growing include the red Big Ben, Bunker Hill, General MacMahon and Karl Rosenfield, the white Avalanche and the very popular pale pink Sara Bernhardt and Pink Parfait. My favourite is the huge flowered pink with yellow centre Doreen.

Tree peonies are not so common being frequently sold as the more expensive grafted plant, and also come in a huge variety of colours. Tree peonies are actually deciduous medium sized shrubs. Select a sheltered spot, as although they are perfectly hardy, a late frost can damage the flowers. Paeonia delavayi has maroon flowers with yellow centres, Shima Nishiki has red flowers, Alice Harding is a double with lemon yellow flowers, Hai Huang has lemon flowers, Duchess of Kent is another double with deep rose red flowers

Propagation of the herbaceous types is usually by division of the tuberous roots during the dormant season. They re-establish very easily and often small roots left behind will grow into a new plant. Established clumps are best lifted and divided after about four or five years, though often some clumps left untouched can continue to grow, flourish and flower for many years to come.

A dressing of a general fertiliser in spring will feed the hungry plant and a mulch of well rotted compost will help the plant through a dry summer, but keep the mulch away from the crown. Water the plants in the summer if dry weather persists. In late summer cut back the foliage and add to the compost heap. As peonies do not emerge till late spring they can be under planted with some snowdrops, aconites and crocus as companion planting to give a good display in early spring.

Picking baby beetroot

Wee jobs to do this week

Root vegetables grown from seed are often thinned out in stages. Beetroot has the first thinning to about an inch apart. Small roots then develop but as final thinning leaves roots spaced four to six inches apart, these final thinnings can gives beetroot a perfect size for a crop of baby beet. The leaves are also young fresh and tender so make a perfect and very healthy drink once liquidised. The red stems and fresh green leaves can also be sliced and sautéed in a pan for a few minutes with a little butter and garlic. They are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

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GARDENING WITH TROPICAL WEATHER

GARDENING WITH TROPICAL WEATHER

Garden activities have always been dependant on prevailing weather. We expect frost and snow in winter, followed by increasing temperatures in

Aurelia with home grown mushrooms and strawberries

spring then onwards to our erratic summer of sun, rain and wind. Climate change appears to be happening so we are left trying to tie garden work somewhere in between normal seasonal weather

Dave hoeing his weeds

and its frequent variations. 2018 got off to a weird start as a mild winter continued into spring which almost failed to arrive. Then we were quickly thrust into summer for the whole month of May, until the storms arrived followed by gales. The rain passed away, summer returned and decided to stay for a few weeks. Both the gardener and his plants were left in complete bewilderment. Summer turned tropical. It was so hot that I had to find a shady spot for my sun lounger, but the garden plants (those that recovered from the gales) just adored it, provided the hose came out on a daily basis to make sure they never dried out. Growth and flowering have never been better. We may have been running three to four weeks behind in spring but now many crops are ahead and harvesting has started. My

Casablanca first early potatoes

first row of lettuce Lollo Rossa and spring onions have all been lifted and used, and my second row of spring onions and lettuce, Webbs Wonderful are getting used regularly.

The hot dry weather has been fantastic for hoeing weeds as they quickly shrivel up, and while it is dry there is very little germination of new weeds, apart from those areas which get irrigated.

Potato Casablanca, a first early has been getting lifted from early June, with excellent size for a salad spud, and the taste of this potato is fantastic. Other potatoes have now all finished flowering

Dave with his great cherry crop

and with very strong healthy foliage bulking up is well under way. Blight may well give us a miss this year as long as the sun shines and rain is just the occasional shower.

Cabbage, cauliflower and kale are growing very strongly, and it seems the normal spacing has been too close as they all want to grow to exhibition size.

Delosperma cooperii

Courgettes and Pumpkins are also growing like fury, though I have to keep them well watered. My first courgettes were ready at the end of June. These cucurbits are sharing space with my sweet corn Incredible, now about four to five feet tall, very robust and now beginning to flower.

Brilliant to see so much luxuriant growth.

Strawberry picking started in mid June with berries in abundance on early, mid season, late season and even my autumn perpetual Flamenco is cropping. However my new variety on trial, Colossus, turns out no bigger than any others, but has a high level of small misshapen fruit and a very low level of crop. It will be getting dug out and discarded in a few weeks time.

Raspberry Glen Fyne started to crop at the beginning of July and crop potential looks enormous. Raspberry Glen Dee suffered in the gales, but is recovering and also looks great. Autumn raspberry Polka got flattened with many canes broken, so looks like I will be depending on old favourite Autumn Bliss which was unharmed and now growing strongly.

Grape Siegerrebe

Fig tree Brown Turkey may not yet be in full foliage as many of the large leaves suffered in the gales, but it is determined to put on more growth to feed the huge crop of figs that just love this tropical climate. I hope to pick my first figs this month.

Cherry trees are having a great year and fellow plot holder Dave has had to protect his huge crop from birds who just love the juicy fresh cherries. Another plot holder Aurelia has had a terrific crop of mushrooms which she has grown in an old barrel full of compost.

The flower garden has never been better; with star of the show my purple Delosperma cooperii.

Apples after thinning

Tomatoes are well ahead with the first Alicante ready to pick in early July and yellow cherry Sungold now turning colour. Grapes under glass have huge bunches which may need thinning.

Wee jobs to do this week

The June drop has now thinned out the apple crop, but most trees are still carrying too many apples so go over the tree and thin clusters out to leave only one or two apples per spur. This will ensure they grow to a decent size.

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A GOOD YEAR FOR ROSES

A GOOD YEAR FOR ROSES

Climbing rose Morning Jewel

Rose growers could not have asked for better weather. Provided the rose beds and borders got some irrigation, plant growth has been strong and very healthy, responding to our recent near tropical weather. However, just when the first heat wave was ending and rain returned, so did the strong gales and damaged any long shoots on both bush and climbing rose. Then the tropical weather returned and plants again just loved it.

Dawn Chorus

I had thought that my tall climbing rose Dublin Bay was a goner as the gales broke off a lot of flowering shoots, but there was still plenty unopened buds ready to replace the losses. Similarly my shrub rose Gertrude Jekyll, which I train as a climber lost a lot of flowers, but still put on a great show. It suffered a lot of greenfly infestations during May, but these got washed off while watering the garden and putting on a high pressure spray, carefully. Roses have always created the main floral impact in summer, as I grow shrubs, climbers and bush types, though they may have lost the popularity they once held when in my youth. They were a symbol of wealth for both gardeners,  home owners and Leisure departments of towns. Both Dundee and Aberdeen and many other towns grew and planted them by the thousand, but sadly today most have all vanished.  My early gardening experience in my training years, was to buy 100 Rosa canina rootstocks then with a broken pen knife, I budded them in summer and got over 80 bushes for my garden. Several years later while studying at college in Chelmsford I did a project researching rose breeding and came across another rootstock, Rosa

Mme Alfred Carrier

multiflora. It was said to give far superior results, so I purchased another 100 and budded these. Commercially this rootstock would not be acceptable in the trade as the neck between roots and stem is too small making budding difficult and slowing down the budders, but my bushes were fantastic. Each bush had more flowering shoots than normal, and each shoot had more flowers than normal. My garden was a mass of colour. Today growers prefer to use Rosa laxa as this does not sucker as much as Rosa canina. Roses may not be so popular, but they are in my blood, so my garden would be empty without them.

Ispahan

Over the years the large number of rose varieties has been whittled down as any bush liable to infection from the common rose diseases would get discarded as chemicals used for their control have just about all been withdrawn. There is still a few chemicals available for diseases of roses, but I tend to only grow those with strong healthy foliage able to withstand attacks of fungi.

Shrub roses now include Ispahan, 

Lavander Lassie, Wisley, Gertrude Jekyll and Rosa Mundi, though the recent gales blew Rosa Mundi over just as it was coming into flower.

Miriam

Climbers able to stand up to diseases include Mme Alfred Carrier, Dublin Bay, Iceberg, Ena Harkness and the pink Morning Jewel. Climbing Ena Harkness is a sport of the bush variety and suffers the same weak neck which can’t hold up the large deep red and scented flowers, but in the climbing form this is an advantage. The flowers bend down so you can see them.

Gertrude Jekyll

My favourite bush roses include, the yellow Arthur Bell, the red E H Morse, the white Iceberg and Margaret Merril, and pink Congratulations, Miriam and Dearest, and Piccadilly is a great bicolour as is Rose Gaujard.

For the perfect red rose bloom, National Trust almost fits the bill, but sadly it is not scented, whereas Fragrant Cloud has a great scent. Super Star may have been the first orange rose way back in the sixties, but now Alexander and Dawn Chorus are the popular choices. For the best scented rose try Wendy Cussons, a deep pink hybrid tea type, which won the Clay Vase for fragrance.

Anna dead heads the sweet peas

Wee jobs to do this week

Dead head rhododendron and azaleas, bedding plants in tubs and borders, herbaceous plants, roses, and sweet peas. This encourages the plant to continue growing and producing more flowers rather than setting seeds.

Spray an insecticide on Rhododendrons and Camellias against scale growing on the underside of the leaves to prevent a build up of sooty mould.

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BUSY TIME IN THE GARDEN

BUSY TIME IN THE GARDEN

Storms in the middle of June caused a fair bit of damage all around the garden and allotment. Winter pansies were at their best before the severe winds tore them apart. Sweet peas got flattened and flag iris blew over and those that stood up shriveled

First picking of strawberries

in the cold winds, but once the winds subsided the sweet peas will start to climb up the support netting once again. Climbing rose Dublin Bay was at its best but now many flowering shoots broke off as did my outdoor grape vines. Then a new row of raspberry Glen Dee got flattened when the suppor

Peony Doreen

t posts broke off at ground level. Some fig tree branches shrivelled up in the strong winds, and although the dry soil got some rain to give it some moisture, the winds quickly dried up the surface. Tubs of geraniums had huge flowers before the storms, but soon all of these got blown away. Peony Doreen with huge flowers could not stand up to the winds though they were well staked so blooms were intact, but drooping down just a bit. Delphiniums standing six feet tall had been well tied to supports so survived undamaged, and these can now open up their flower spikes as the winds have died down. Oriental poppies gave a great display ahead of the gales, but had suffered in the dry weather and frequent hose watering kept them alive, but then they got flattened by the winds. The remaining foliage will be cut back to see if it will grow again. Summer bedding plants and Sweet William in borders were unharmed as they are still quite small and now putting on growth and

Sweet William

flowering will soon give us the summer display.

Many border areas that were carpeted with spring bulbs (crocus, grape hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, snowdrops and aconites) are now all into dormancy so after the old foliage was cleared away, the soil was lightly cultivated and sown down with fast growing annual flowers, like poppies, candytuft, cornflower, godetia and Livingston daisies. Hopefully there is still time for these to grow and flower by mid summer. The long dry month of May was brilliant for hoeing weeds, but when the rains came the weeds duly returned, so the hoe came out again before they could take hold.

Vegetables sown by seed soon germinated, and thinning was needed for turnips, Swedes, carrots, beetroot, dwarf French beans, salsify, lettuce and radish. Leeks grown from seed needed replanting once they gained pencil thickness and these are now looking sturdy. Onions just loved the hot sunny May weather and are also looking strong, though they did get a fair bit of irrigation by hose.

Anna weeds the allotment flower border

Potatoes have also grown very strong and are now in full flower. Shaws of first early Casablanca will be lifted before the end of June, which is a couple of weeks behind last year’s crop.

Strawberries down at ground level covered in netting to keep birds out suffered no damage and picking started in early June, but still a fortnight behind last year’s crop.

Blackcurrants have such a huge crop potential that many branches have bent down to the ground with the

Climbing rose Dublin Bay

weight of berries and needed staking before they suffered any rain damage from soil splashing on them. Gooseberries are also laden with a huge crop, but the bushes did a June drop, and although they shed half the berries I will still get a great crop.

My dwarf cherry tree Cherokee is also hanging with a great crop now beginning to turn red so it will need netting before the birds spot it.

Greenhouse tomatoes are now on their fourth truss and need constant side shoot removal and support of the cordon stems as well as regular feeding. Grape vine bunches are now all in place and beginning to swell. Summer pruning of side shoots is now almost complete, but now I begin to reduce foliage to let in the sunshine to help ripen up the grapes.

Turning the compost heap

Wee jobs to do this week

Plant waste has been building up on the compost heap with grass cuttings, storm damaged plants, vegetable waste from the kitchen, spent spring bedding plants, spring bulb foliage which has now been removed as well as annual weeds removed from the plot. Now is a good time to turn over the heap and water as you go as the sunny weather in May has dried it out. It won’t rot down unless it is kept moist. Keep adding to the heap and give another turn at the end of summer and good compost should be ready to use in late autumn just in time for the winter digging.

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EASY GROUND COVER PLANTS

EASY GROUND COVER PLANTS

An attractive garden is usually a balance of areas of high input containing bedding plants replaced twice every year for a dramatic show of colour and other more tranquil areas that can still look great but without requiring a lot of maintenance time. This is where ground cover plants play an important role.

Aconites

It may be a shady border, or a dry area with poor soil, a wet patch or a large area in need of plants to create interest but that are easy to maintain. There are many plants that are attractive in appearance and dense enough to smother any weeds that dare to grow. Many ground cover plants can also allow some companion planting of bulbs to give an additional show at the same time as the ground cover plants or even at another time to give an additional display. A few of my favourites combine attractiveness of foliage, ability to put on a good show of flowers, and compact growth that prevents weeds from germinating or smothers those that made a start.

London Pride grows in an ever increasing drift with a dense canopy of leaves that weeds just can’t break through. It will grow on any soil in sun or shade producing a show of pink flowers in June.

Delosperma nubigenum with masses of yellow daisy like flowers in June and its bigger brother Delosperma cooperi with purple flowers a month later are low growing succulents about three to six inches tall, that hug the ground as they grow, smothering all in their path. They prefer dry stony soils in full sun, and are brilliant hanging over walls. In fact it is easy to propagate bits by pulling off some shoots and pushing them into gaps in walls where they will root and grow.

Saxifrage comes in numerous varieties growing in dense clumps. They prefer well drained soil in a sunny spot and associate well with stones in a rockery or next to paths. They flower early in March and the red tulip Scarlet Baby is perfect alongside them and in a normal year they will both flower together.

Phlox subulata and Iberis sempervirons are low growing rock garden plants with pink, red and white flowers making a great display in May. They also love to scramble over walls and are a great companion to drifts of tulips growing nearby.

Red Oriental poppies and yellow Doronicum are herbaceous perennials with dense canopies of leaves and flower profusely in May, but then the foliage dies down in summer. Red tulips are great planted amongst the Doronicums with a show of contrasting colours.

Phlox subulata

Heathers, Euonymus fortunei, ivy and dwarf conifers are all evergreen plants useful for steep banks and shady corners all growing quite dense so no weeds can survive underneath them. They all have attractive foliage, and are very easy to grow. Heathers will all flower and some Callunas have foliage that turns bronze in winter after the first frosts.

Azaleas and dwarf rhododendrons are great for shady damp places as well as sunny spots giving masses of flowers from April to June depending on variety.

Oriental poppies

Nerine bowdenii, the Guernsey Lily forms a dense clump of bulbs that slowly multiply, and then as the leaves die down at the end of summer the pink flowers appear and put on a great show.
Aconites and grape hyacinths are also bulbous plants growing in dense drifts, though foliage cover is short lived as they die down in early summer, but if you underplant them with tulips and Oriental lilies you can extend the display from spring into summer.

Wee jobs to do this week

Leeks

Transplanting leeks

sown outdoors in good soil in April should now be ready to lift and transplant. They like fertile soil to achieve a good size with thick necks. I have mine in land that had plenty of compost incorporated last year, then a green manure crop of tares sown down. This was dug in a couple of months ago so it could rot down ahead of transplanting. Rake the soil level after treading to firm it up, and then draw out a shallow furrow and dibble holes in about four to six inches apart. Lift the leek seedlings, discard any small ones, then after topping and tailing drop them into the holes and water in. Space rows about a foot apart. Musselburgh is still hard to beat.

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