SOIL

SOIL

To create a successful garden, we select our favourite plants, arrange where best to put them and give them the soil conditions best suited to their needs. Some research is always handy to establish the best plants for dry soil, damp soil, poor soil, shady areas, suntraps and even on the allotment you need to know which plants need very fertile soil and those that are best on land manured the previous year. Many problems start with the new garden around new property once the builders have left the site. Poor soil, consolidation, poor drainage and buried builders debris are normal.

Once you start to dig over the site, coupled with a visual inspection you will quickly determine the state and nature of soil, and if drainage is needed.

Anna starting the winter digging

A rubble drain can often be integrated under garden paths and lead to a large sump. Soil improvement is an ongoing event involving digging annually, incorporating organic manures, practicing green manuring, establishing a compost heap and using fertilisers and rock dust to get plants off to a good start. Any areas to be planted with permanent or long term crops such as fruit bushes, shrubs, trees or roses should have the ground double dug adding in as much compost or other organic material as you can get hold off. When double digging nearly two feet deep don’t allow the soil or clay in the lower depths to come up into the top soil. Deep digging opens up the soil allowing good aeration, root penetration and improves fertility and drainage.

Adding bulky organic manures feed the soil increasing worm activity and soil organisms which break down the manures into humus. This creates a fertile crumb structure which opens up the soil, aerates it and improves the drainage. Humus also darkens the soil which then warms up more efficiently. On allotments where a four year rotation is practised it is usual to lime one section each year where the brassicas are to be planted. On sandy soils often deficient in minerals consider using rock dust to improve mineral uptake.

Shredding branches at City Road Allotments

Compost heap

This is where the fertility comes from. I compost everything unless it is diseased , e.g. clubroot or rose black spot or has seed heads such as poppies. Even domestic newspapers, utility bills, bank statements can be shredded and woody material such as shrub prunings can be chipped and shredded then added to the heap. Grass cuttings, leaves and annual weeds will all rot down. However discard or dry out any perennial weeds such as couch grass, mares tail, nettles, willow herb, dockens or dandelion.

Keep the heap for nine months and try to turn it over at least once. Keep it moist to assist worms and organisms, but also keep it covered to retain the moisture and warmth.

Green Manuring

This is an excellent method of improving soil fertility. When the early crops such as broad beans, early potatoes, sweet corn, dwarf french beans or even old strawberry plots are finished, dig or fork over the ground, add some fertiliser then scatter some mustard, clover or tares. As soon as the first flowers appear, trample down the stems and dig it in.

Wee jobs to do this week

Pruning Black Hamburg grape vine

Prune grape vines in the greenhouse as well as outdoors. Vines under glass are usually trained as upright rods spaced about 18 inches apart with spurs established about ten inches apart up these rods. Prune all young shoots right back to a couple of buds from the main stem (rod). Grapes grown outdoors can also be grown as rods or if covering trellis, fences or sheds left to form a framework of main stems spaced about a foot apart. Again spurs are encouraged to form about ten inches apart and in November to January all young shoots are cut back to a couple of buds. Commercially outdoor grapes are trained in the single or double guyot system to form well managed rows with plenty of light and growth restricted in summer to encourage fruiting.

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PLANS FOR A NEW SEASON

PLANS FOR A NEW SEASON

Although the very wet weather at the start of 2016 has not been kind to gardens or gardeners giving us precious little chance to get onto the soil, we can still do some gardening at home, sorting out plans for the new season. We have had time to analyse last year’s results so we can continue with our success stories and find answers to our failures.

There have always been continual changes around the garden and on the allotment. We have a permanent battle with the weather all year round, and then there are new varieties of flowers, fruit and vegetables to try out.

Add to that those must have trees and shrubs that have given us a lot of pleasure for many years, but eventually outgrow their allotted space. I have had to sacrifice my eucalyptus, several huge conifers, many shrub roses devastated by blackspot, my plum tree which got infected by silver leaf disease and my peach tree devastated by peach leaf curl. I also lost several grape vines, my goji and a row of raspberries killed out by phytophthora root rot.

However the gaps left behind gives us the challenge of improving the landscape design. Thus a lot of new plantings took place last year including many dwarf rhododendrons and azaleas, some osteospermums, flag iris, outdoor fuchsias and bulbs.

I had a huge ceanothus growing at the bottom of a steep bank, but during a dry spell last year it died so I dug it out. The ground was replanted with a drift of yellow doronicums around which I have planted numerous dwarf red tulips to flower at the same time. Another dry area at the top of a wall has been planted up with peonies and pinks around the edges to trail over the wall. This area has also been under planted with tall red tulips for a spring display and highly scented oriental lilies for the summer. More oriental lilies are planned for the ground vacated by removal of my forty year old plum tree as well as hundreds of grape hyacinths which naturalise very easily.

Update in the fruit garden

Last year my new autumn raspberry Polka started to fruit, and as hoped the berries were larger than Autumn Bliss, so I look forward to this year’s crop. I will try out a new summer raspberry bred recently at James Hutton Institute called Glen Dee, with larger fruit than Glen Ample, heavier yields with tolerance to some strains of raspberry root rot.

Bramble Rhuben will now be in its second year, so I hope it fairs better than last year. This is a primocane type fruiting on new shoots produced in the same year. However last year some of these new canes flowered in November so never had a chance to fruit, though it was a cold sunless year.

Blackcurrant Big Ben gave a good crop of large berries so hope this continues this year.

Aronia Viking gave us its first crop last year, but as the bush grows the cropping potential will increase, so 2016 could be a good year, with enough for a demijohn of wine.

My original outdoor peach tree Peregrine, grown against a south facing fence had to be dug out as the peach leaf curl could not be controlled. It has now been replaced with peach Avalon Pride said to be resistant to this disease, so here we go again.

In the greenhouse my new grape Siegerrebe was quite promising, giving white grapes with a Muscat flavour, so I took some cuttings and will try this one outdoors on a south facing fence.

Starline apple Firedance planted last year gave a few apples, and in the cool wet summer growth was fairly decent, so it will be interesting to see what it does this year.

Wee jobs around the garden

Winter aconites are now beginning to flower a lot earlier than normal due to the mild winter. Where a drift is forming from scattered seed these are now germinating but only produce one set of seed leaves in the first year and no mature leaves. The second year they produce one mature leaf, and then hopefully begin to flower in the third year. Make sure you can recognise these young leaves so they don’t get mistaken for an early flush of weeds.

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EDIBLE PLANTS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE

EDIBLE PLANTS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE

The Festive season is now a very pleasant memory of meeting friends and family, great food and drink and plenty of it, but now we need to get back to reality. It is very easy to have gained a few pounds as it is not the time to be resisting the dumpling or pudding with a generous helping of brandy butter sauce, followed by a large slice of Christmas cake. However now we need to sort out some activities to use the energy stored up in our bodies.

John picking the Aronia Viking chokeberries

Some folk will be getting back to the gym, others out for a jog, a few country walks, a swim or cycle run and for us gardeners we can crack on with the winter digging, fence and shed repairs after all the storms, then there’s the roses, vines and shrubs to prune. Gardeners also benefit from having a good selection of fresh vegetables available all year round. Last week I had a notion for a fresh salad, something light after all the very tasty, but heavy going festive meals.

Then a trip to my allotment plot to pick a lettuce, spring onions, beetroot, and some salad leaves of mustard, rocket and mezuna. The very mild winter has kept these plants growing and quite fresh. Looking forward to the 2016 growing season I always make sure that there are plenty healthy crops on the growing plan. The top plants for health benefits are often referred to as the superfoods, and giving them this accolade does help to promote their use, but the term is vague with little scientific basis for evaluation. There are very numerous scientific experiments currently underway to try and evaluate superfood products on our health. Many of these experiments use concentrated extractions of the beneficial elements contained in the

fruit and vegetables so even when the results are favourable we should not read too much into them. It is however quite beneficial to consume a variety of fruit and vegetables to provide our bodies with wide range of vitamins and minerals, as one plant will be quite different from another, and growing your own has the added advantage with the crop not getting picked till it is fully ripe and uncontaminated by any chemicals. Any small garden or allotment plot can grow many of those fruit and vegetables earning the superfood status and just enjoy them and feel all the better in the knowledge that they all possess a wee bit more of those beneficial vitamins, anti-oxidants and minerals. My list of the best includes rhubarb, beetroot, chard, kale, broccoli, garlic, onions, peppers, blueberries, saskatoons and chokeberries. Although not on any superfood list, I would also include lettuce and heritage apple varieties, as when you research the health benefits of crops they both come out very favourably, especially the apples before they were subjected to breeding for size, heavy cropping and uniformity. Each crop has its own claim to fame.

Top of my list is the chokeberry with very high levels of vitamin C and anti-oxidants.

Saskatoons, blackcurrants and blueberries all having black fruits have similar health benefit properties and can be eaten fresh, frozen or processed for a wide variety of uses.

Beetroot including the leaves is also high in anti-oxidants and vitamin C but also vitamin A and K as well as a lot of minerals. Chard belongs to the same family so has a similar range of goodness.

Kale and broccoli are very high in calcium and iron.

Garlic and onions contain the vitamins A, E, C and B6 as well as the minerals iron, molybdenum, manganese, chromium, calcium and potassium.

Rhubarb is high in calcium and potassium and antioxidants.

Peppers are very high in Vitamin C, vitamin A, and most of the vitamin B range, as well as the minerals potassium, magnesium and iron. If you can build up a tolerance to hot peppers they are

recognized for excellent health benefits.

Wee jobs to do this week

Lift and divide rhubarb if it has cropped for three or more years. Discard old crowns but save and replant strong young crowns with at least two to three buds. As rhubarb will be undisturbed for several years dig over the ground incorporating plenty of manure or compost as rhubarb is a heavy feeder. Space crowns about three feet apart.

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REVIEW OF THE YEAR

REVIEW OF THE YEAR

The festive season is a good time for indoor garden planning relaxing in the warmth and enjoying a wee bit of festive cheer. Plans for 2016 are usually based on the past years experiences, so it is a good idea to review performance while we can remember our successes and failures.

Whilst we have always been at the mercy of nature not knowing what kind of weather awaits us, we still make the choice of what plants we wish to grow. We are also relying on nurseries and garden centres to supply us with good stock and seeds so that we get what it says on the label, and plants are healthy and grow. I like to experiment, so every year I select new plants to try out, and every year this meets a fair bit of disappointment as some

suppliers send inferior stock. I have had wrong variety raspberries supplied, rasps infected with root rot, virus infected vines, purple phlox that produced pink flowers, pink peonies that turned out to be the common red one, and vegetable seed with extremely poor germination. So the failures of 2015 were not all due to bad weather. Our spirits rose at Easter when summer started early and lasted nearly a fortnight. After that it was downhill till autumn. No need for watering on the allotment plot this year.

Fruit

Cold weather in spring delayed flowering on all top fruit for two to three weeks, but when trees did flower there was plenty of bees around and everything flowered together so bees were quite fussy and ignored my peach tree. Daily hand pollination helped, but then the cold wet summer favoured peach leaf curl disease and I lost most of the leaves. The fruit could not develop, so most fell off. Apples and pears were the success story giving fantastic crops, though fruit was not as sweet as

previous years.

I had worried that the poor summer would ruin my fig bush. If the summer had been good I had hoped to get about a hundred figs. The summer never came but still the first figs were ready at the end of August and continued till the end of October by which time I had picked over 150 ripe figs.

Blackcurrants cropped very heavy with berry size the best ever. New variety Big Ben lived up to its name with enormous sweet berries. Similarly my new autumn raspberry Polka produced very large berries, but my new blackberry Reuben was nothing to get excited about. Some of the new primocanes flowered in November so had no chance of fruiting this year.

Vegetables

All leafy plants such as cabbage, kale, salads, leeks and broad beans just loved the weather, and parsnips and carrots have never been better, but beetroot was very poor. It germinated just fine but never swelled up. Similarly Swedes failed to germinate totally, but I put this down to poor seed.

Pumpkins really need a good summer, but I did get three modest fruit from three plants. I usually get two fruit per plant. Potatoes also loved the weather, though blight was a nuisance except on Sarpo Mira which has healthy foliage. Tomatoes were brilliant though I hear others had variable results. I put my success down to good border soil enhanced with compost.

Flowers

Spring flowering tulips, azaleas, camellias and bulbs were brilliant but many summer flowers such as petunias and impatiens failed miserably. It was the geraniums, begonias and fuchsia Mrs Popple that stole the show.

Wee jobs to do this week

The greenhouse grape vine is now fully dormant, and has ripened up so this is a perfect time to get out the secateurs and do the winter pruning. Vines are prone to bleeding if stems are cut late in the dormant season so complete all the pruning by the end of January. Grapes in greenhouses are grown on upright rods spaced about 18 inches apart. Spurs grow from these rods about every 9 or 10 inches apart and produce the shoots with the grapes. It is these shoots that are now cut off back to the main rods leaving a couple of buds.

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