Pottering Around

 POTTERING AROUND

Writing a gardening article ten days in advance of publication has its disadvantages. After surviving a really bad winter which killed out many plants, the garden readjusted itself as good growing weather prevailed for a couple of months. Seed sowing, planting, soil preparations and weeding were all back on schedule and I even had time to test the sun lounger. Everything was going so well that it was well worthy of a good gardening article, “Perfect Weather for Gardening”

Fate had other ideas and I now know how Michael Fish felt. The day before my article appeared the gales arrived and blew half the garden away. Good job this is Dundee, as no-one took me to task on my perfect gardening weather. Trees were blown down, my hanging baskets blew off the walls, plum trees lost half their branches, and the end of my greenhouse exploded as the winds bent the structure. Courgettes and pumpkins outside to harden off got blown out of their pots, delphiniums were flattened and any plant with soft spring leaves got shredded including climbing roses, young saskatoon plants, vegetable plants in boxes, shrubs and my new cherry tree and mature peach tree.

However, our unpredictable weather then gave us two days of heatwaves followed by a massive temperature drop turning my greenhouse tomatoes blue as they now have a well ventilated end with no glass. Strawberries are all ripening but lack of warmth reduces the sweetness and softness.

I hope that when you are reading this weeks garden adventure I will be back up to date with tasks and start my pottering around with numerous pleasant wee jobs, interspersed with coffee breaks and wee seats in the baking hot sun.

The Garden

As one display ends another begins. It is now the herbaceous border that is providing the colour with a combination of bright scarlet oriental poppies and blue flag iris. The gales had no effect on them but my new cherry tree, already suffering from an attack of black fly got its leaves shriveled, as did my plum and peach trees.

Poppy seed sown in many bare areas is germinating strongly and promises to give a good display.

My climbing roses, Dublin Bay and Gertrude Jekyll lost half their leaves in the gale, but are still putting on a decent display of flowers.

Cornus (dogwood), and Salix (willow) in the coloured stemmed winter border have both put on strong growth even after I cut them back right to ground level in March.

The Allotment

Strawberry picking is now a major task with a huge crop on all varieties. Gooseberries are also hanging heavily despite a thousand sawfly caterpillars mounting an attack when they thought I wasn’t looking. Black and red currants are also laden heavily with berries, already turning colour far earlier than normal. Nets will be needed for the red currants, but not the blacks.

Thinning turnips, swedes, chard and lettuce is at the two inches apart stage, but my thinly sown beetroot won’t be thinned till I can get thinnings as a baby beetroot crop. I do not thin leeks, spring onions or radish as they are sown thinly. Parsnips have germinated perfectly this year.

Chrysanthemums, sweet peas and gladioli planted out for cut flower and display have all established well as we have had good growing weather apart from the gales.

One area intended for a June planting of pumpkins, courgettes and cape gooseberries had been sown down with a mustard green manure crop to improve the soil fertility. This is now three feet tall and beginning to flower so it will be trampled down and dug in. It is best to dig with a trench so you can bury the green stems easily. They do not regrow once buried. It is an extra task, but has a really beneficial effect on the next crop. It is very worthwhile at the beginning of the growing period for late planting crops and also at the end after harvesting an early maturing crop such as broad beans, early potatoes, peas, salads and sweet corn.

The Greenhouse

Young vegetable plants left the greenhouse to get hardened off, then promptly returned as the gales blew in. Unfortunately it was too late for my courgettes and pumpkins which got shredded and blown out of their pots. I may be able to salvage some of them with a bit of luck.

Tomatoes were growing strongly, and flowering profusely before the gales blew out the glass. Now they are a bit cold but in time they should be ok.

Grapes now need constant pruning as every young shoot gets cut back to one leaf, as I can now see the bunches on the laterals growing from each rod.

Gardening Scotland

 

I have always attended this June event at Ingliston in Edinburgh as well as the Dundee Flower Show at Camperdown Park in September. However I now take a stand at these events to promote and sell my Saskatoon plants. They are becoming very popular as I was nearly totally sold out, only bringing back one plant. We also get the chance to look around other stands. Anna could not resist a gorgeous Peonia Doreen so it will now find a favoured spot in the garden. I really liked this Arisaema sikokianum, but was told it was a bit evil looking and a wee bit too much like a triffid, so I had to settle for a new rose for my garden hose. Life can be hard at times.

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The Growing Season

SPRING PROPAGATION

Early April is a time when gardening really gets serious. Seed sowing of vegetables and flowers is in full production, chrysanthemum cuttings are being rooted, begonias started and plants germinated earlier are now needing pricked out or potted up. My greenhouse is always full even though I keep putting out plants to harden off as other younger more tender plants take their place. Outdoors I will be preparing the ground for the first sowings of vegetables and flowers, then if I can find a few spare days there is fences to be repaired, outdoor tables to paint, the greenhouse glass needs a wash,  my allotment shed roof leeks badly, and now the weeds have started to appear.

Fat chance of me taking advantage of some nice warm day to make sure my sun lounger is still in good working order. However my winter art classes are now finished till after Easter when I start again with a ten week summer session, (information on my website), so I will have no excuse for not getting some gardening done, unless of course I find my latest art project too stimulating to leave. I am currently working on new paintings for the Aberdeen Arts Fair in August where I will have a stand. My beautiful bright red Amaryllis was perfect as a colour prop in one of my figure paintings.

Greenhouse activities

Sowings of broad beans, onions, lettuce, early summer cabbage and cauliflower are now big enough to get hardened off so they are now outdoors in a sunny sheltered spot. They all went into cellular trays so did not need pricking off. This gives me a bit more space for my tomatoes now that they have been potted up and are growing strongly. They should be ready for planting into the growbags next week, but that depends on the weather just in case we get a late cold spell.

Overwintered geraniums are looking great. The largest ones are now outdoors, but younger smaller ones need a bit more warmth to bulk up.

Grape vines propagated last year from cuttings are now all breaking into growth, so they are due to get hardened off very soon. My greenhouse grapes are also starting into growth, so I ventilate on all warm days to keep a buoyant atmosphere so I don’t get troubled with mildew or botrytis.

Seed sowing continues with sweet corn going into small cellular trays to be transplanted into larger ones after germination.

Cape gooseberry seeds are also going into cellular trays as well as kale and Brussels sprouts.

Tuberous begonias have now come out of storage in the garage. I overwintered them in polystyrene boxes filled with a mixture of dry soil and sand, but now the warmer atmosphere has plumped up the buds which want to get growing. I start these in boxes packed quite close together covered lightly in compost, but they will get potted or boxed up again when they start to put on more growth. I have had about thirty non stop tuberous begonias for over fifteen years. The tubers get big enough in time to split in half as long as there is a few buds on each portion.

Chrysanthemums have had a hard time overwintering in my cold greenhouse, and I may lose some varieties, though it is early yet. Time will tell. I have started to take cuttings as they are big enough, (about two inches long) inserting them into trays. They will enjoy a bit of warmth on the living room windowsill to get them rooted, and then it is back into the greenhouse. I have a collection of early outdoor reflex and incurves which get disbudded to give me large heads and another collection of sprays which do not get disbudded. They are grown in a bed system on my allotment, giving a glorious display before getting cut for the house.

Outdoor work

Leeks can now be sown thinly in a well prepared seed bed outdoors. Once they are pencil thickness and about six inches tall, they can be lifted, topped and tailed, dibbled into big holes, then watered in to firm them up. The variety Musselburgh is always a good favourite. They are heavy feeders so make sure the ground for them has been well manured or composted, and still give them a dusting of fertilizer.

Dogwoods and willow growing in the winter border have now been pruned right back to ground level. This always seems very harsh, but they are very resilient and soon grow back quite strongly. I encourage growth with a dressing of compost in winter, then some fertilizer in spring. It is the fresh one year old shoots that give the brightest colours.

Landscaping works

Several shrub roses have been removed as they just were not strong enough to fight off attacks of mildew, rust and blackspot. They were growing on a very steep bank, so now I have to seek plants that can stabilize the soil and prevent erosion of soil running down the slope. Last summer I planted drifts of flag iris that have surface rhizomes that soon cover the ground holding the soil in place. They were supplemented with polyanthus, which were spare after they finished their spring display in tubs. They are brilliant at hugging the ground and continue to flower all spring. I will be adding a batch of Shasta daisies that are also great for soil stabilization, and once the threat of frost has passed I have a dozen young Fuchsia Mrs Popple ready to go out.

To add variety and cover other areas of this steep slope I am growing a batch of Cosmos which will go under glass for a few weeks to get them started, and a sowing of the annual Shirley poppy will go straight onto the steep sloping ground. I will prepare a fine tilth and add a sprinkling of old growbag compost to assist the germination, but they will get no fertilizer, otherwise it will be plenty of growth at the expense of flowers.

Early spring bulbs

The spring bulbs continue to flower. Now it is the turn for the Scilla siberica, Anemone blanda, grape hyacinths, early narcissi, and tulip species. February Gold is one of the first narcissi to flower, and the kaufmanniana tulip Stressa, Shakespeare and Show Winner are in bloom at the end of March. These are followed by the Fosteriana types such as Red Emperor and the white Purissima and the greigii hybrids Red Riding Hood.

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Planning a new garden

PLANNING A NEW GARDEN

We all face this situation each time we move house, whether just married, moving up the property ladder or moving to a new location following the sun.

It may be a new house where the builders have just left, it may be flat but turfed, or it might be an existing home where the previous owner has left behind his neglected, overgrown or fantastically landscaped garden. However, you are likely to want to develop your own ideas for your garden, but just where do you start!

I have always loved gardening and my horticultural career has taken me all around the UK, so every time I found a new house it had to be landscaped to my needs at that time. I always had a notion of the plants I wanted to grow if room and funds permitted. In the early years the house and garden were quite modest and there was always a garden problem to solve. Nothing much has changed except that my garden is a wee bit bigger and I have now grown many of those special must have plants.

The experience of creating new gardens has developed into a pattern that can now be followed breaking it down into logical stages.

Let us start at the beginning.

Site analysis

I always start here, walking over the site and noting if there are any worthwhile features, e.g. specimen trees or shrubs, or good views to preserve, eyesores to remove or problems, e.g. steep slope to solve. Now look over the fence and see if any screening is needed for neighbours washing line, adjacent busy roads, building next door with windows looking onto your private patio.

Have a look at the topsoil, dig a few pits a foot deep. Is it good, does it need amelioration, assess the drainage to see if this is a problem. Look at local weeds. Nettles indicate good soil, buttercups, wild orchids and reeds wet soil.

You will now be getting an idea of the site's potential, so you can incorporate your own needs. Give every idea an airing. Will the garden be totally ornamental or will you want a vegetable patch, and what about some healthy fruit crops. Will you plan for a compost heap. This was always an essential with me where I recycle all plant waste material including tree and shrub pruning after shredding them, plus all household waste paper that goes through a paper shredder first. However don't compost any diseased material.

What about a greenhouse and shed for pots, canes, tools, wheelbarrow and wood shredder.

Getting friends around for the barbecue on those long warm summer evenings and a patio in a sunny sheltered location is needed to relax on after all this garden planning. Very mentally exhausting work.

Then of course there is the lawn, for some an absolute essential, and for others nothing but a problem area that is always full of moss and weeds and never stops growing.

The other major task is the hard landscaping of paths, walls if required, rock garden for some, fences, and services (water and electricity) to the greenhouse and shed.

Finally what about all those plants you want to grow for year round interest and colour.

Now the work can begin!

Structure, shelter and privacy

A garden will take on a very professional look if it has a good structure within which specific features are incorporated. Start with selection of trees. Is the garden big enough for one, two or more? Trees come in all shapes and sizes so nearly every garden can take at least one of a modest size. I will tackle this subject in a later article showing a wide range of trees suited to the small to medium sized garden.. The small garden can consider some slow growing conifers, an upright cherry, Prunus amanogawa, or hornbeam, Carpinus betulus pyrimidalis and if your drainage is good what about the golden Robinia frisia.

Keep trees, especially willow and poplar, well away from house walls and check where the services are before you drive in any supporting tree stakes.

Shrubs are the next item to be planned, usually to define boundaries or give shelter and privacy. However the planning of these will depend on the location and route of paths, greenhouse, sheds, vegetable patch and patio. Many shrubs flower and some such as the Philadelphus are scented.

I like to blend buildings into the garden landscape by using climbers on any bare wall around the house and on surrounding perimeter fences. Choose plants known to do well on the appropriate wall face, as some need the warmth of a south wall and others prefer a north wall, (more information in a later article).

Entertainment and Relaxation

The patio and barbecue should be big enough to accommodate several people. It should be sheltered, have privacy and will be hard surfaced. Outdoor tables and chairs will be needed and it is a good idea to have some colourful bedding plants in tubs, hanging baskets and borders to brighten up the area. Scented plants located nearby add to the tranquillity.

The lawn

Decide whether the lawn is to be attractive but functional with daisies and buttercups cut with a rotary mower or whether it is to be a feature of admiration with level surface, close mown weed free fine grass which the cylinder mower leaves in pretty stripes after its weekly cut. Of course, the edges will need to be kept cut regularly. The height of the lawn must relate to any surrounding manholes and path edges so the blades do not get chipped and make sure there is free access to get onto the lawn. Plan the lawn shape with flowing perimeter curves so mowing is easy. Select an appropriate grass seed mixture depending on what type of lawn you wish. Do not use a fine grass mixture if the kids will be playing ball games or riding bikes over it.

The greenhouse

If you like to eat very fresh salads, home grown sweet cherry and the larger Alicante tomatoes cannot be beaten when picked totally ripe off your own plants.

Then you can also grow a grape vine and any amount of bedding plants.

Site your greenhouse in a sunny but sheltered spot and put in power and water before you dig foundations. I have always put in a brick base about a foot high to give extra height for my grape vine and giving added drainage with a large pit dug out and filled with old crushed bricks. Top up with 6 to 9 inches of good topsoil. Grapes want decent soil to get them started, but then good drainage. Don't feed or over water them much once established.

Colour all year round

There is a huge selection of excellent flowering plants to brighten up every month from early spring to summer bulbs, spring and summer bedding plants, herbaceous and border plants, flowering trees and shrubs, lilies, gladioli, carnations, bush and shrub roses and annuals for a quick display. The effects will change continuously as every time you visit a nursery or garden centre you will always find something new to try.

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The Garden Beckons

As the season warms up, the garden has never shown so much potential. The long hard winter appears to have reduced the amount of overwintering pests and diseases, and now plants are showing a lot of promise for good crops and plenty flowers.

The Flower Garden

Summer bedding plants have now been planted out in borders, tubs and hanging baskets.

However my winter show of pansies in hanging baskets and tubs are still very colourful, so I let them finish their show grouped together on the patio beside the new summer tubs.

I rely on geraniums, and tuberous begonias for my main display, supplemented with other summer bedding plants.

I also plant out patches of spray chrysanthemums, and gladioli with sweet peas trained up some fence lines.

Roses seem to be healthier than ever this year. There is little signs of greenfly, mildew or blackspot. The last three very wet years really allowed diseases to flourish so I removed all roses than were not strong enough to fight off fungus attacks. So out went many bush and climbing roses to be replaced by stronger and more disease resisting types.

A heavy infestation of greenfly disappeared when a passing swarm of ladybirds spotted them. If only it was always that easy.

I replaced one climbing rose with a shrub rose Gertrude Jekyll then treated it as a climber. It just loves this spot on a west facing wall on the patio providing a mass of deep pink flowers with the old English rose scent wafting over the patio. Now this is summer.

Another border is ablaze with scented flag iris and oriental poppies. My garden may be my labour of love and main hobby, but my income comes from the world of art. Flowers give me inspiration to paint and the Iris just had to go onto a canvas together with some spectacular Iceland poppies both in my garden around the studio as well as on my allotment in City Road.

These new paintings on large canvases can be seen on my website on my Art Exhibition page.

The Fruit Garden

I have been a fruit lover since childhood having been weaned on the berry fields around Dundee since about nine years old, so growing raspberries and strawberries was essential to a normal way of life, but not forgetting rhubarb, previously so common in poor working class family gardens but now almost elevated to super food status. I have always loved it raw with or without a dip in the sugar bowl, or as crumble or stewed for dessert.

A short spell during my horticultural training years at our local Scottish Crops Research Institute in the sixties introduced me to a wide variety of fruit previously unknown.

We had the museum collection of apple trees from all over the world looking for a variety suitable for eastern Scotland. I also remember harvesting the first crops of Blueberries in 1967 totally unknown in the UK but now widely grown everywhere.

However, now we have global warming, my research background encourages experiments with outdoor grapes, peaches, figs and now saskatoons.

I have started picking the first of my strawberries from an early variety called Mae grown under a low polythene tunnel. These will continue until my other varieties take over including Honeoye then the late summer variety Symphony.

I am also trying a perpetual variety called Malling Opal which I hope will fruit till the end of October in the open.

Raspberry growing was always very easy in the north east of Scotland and SCRI bred an very heavy cropping and flavoursome raspberry called Glen Ample.

Then along came a root rot fungus Phytophthora. My row of Glen Ample was wiped out. Research is now under way to find a variety that can resist or at least tolerate the diseases. Fortunately the variety Autumn Bliss has not been affected by root rot so I still get raspberries from August till October.

I have replaced my Glen Ample with Cascade Delight, a new variety bred at Washington State University reputed to be fairly tolerant of root rot disease.

Time will tell.

The Allotment

The allotment of today is a place to indulge in the delights of growing whatever you want, whether vegetables, fruit, flowers or just create a garden place to relax in. Sheds with patios, and seating areas are common place, but to reach the stage of being able to wind down and relax, a wee bit of work does not go amiss. Once the crops are in and all the weeds are taken care of, (a major task) the site takes on a social function.

However do not ignore the benefits of fresh air, outdoor environment, exercise and the value of fresh vegetables, fruit and flowers.

In between socialising and weeding, my first crops of lettuce, radish, rhubarb and strawberries have all received a picking. Greenfly not controlled by ladybirds infested my blackcurrants and gooseberries, so I picked off all the young infected shoots. This will also help to push plant vigour into fruiting rather than growth.

By the middle of June my allotment is virtually all planted up.

Although most vegetables are giving good growth, my parsnips have failed. Only got four plants from a whole packet of seeds. They had better be very big as they need to last from November to April.

My ornamental border full of Iceland poppies always needs dead heading before they take over the whole allotment site and I get evicted, but what a fantastic display they give.

The Cold Greenhouse

My tomato main crop Alicante and Sweet One Million cherry tomatoes growing directly in growbags continue to need removal of sideshoots as I grow them as cordons. I am now feeding them a high potash feed at every second watering.

I also grow Black Hamburg Grapes, as well as Flame, a red seedless variety which fruits in August and does not need any fruit thinning. I have planted a new white seedless type known as Perlette but it will not fruit till next year at least.

Now the garden is sorted out I had better get a brush in my hand and get back to the easel.

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