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.

END

THE SUMMER HAS ARRIVED

THE SUMMER HAS ARRIVED

Mixed azaleas

The summer has definitely arrived. All the signs are in place. The summer flowers are out, geraniums looking brilliant, and ice-cream is being served on the patio. The sun loungers are in place but we sit in the shade as it is too hot in the sun. Thunderstorms are raging all over UK, but somehow Dundee misses out. The garden hose has been in constant use as we have seen no rain for at least three weeks, but as long as the garden gets plenty of water from the hose plants are thriving. During the cold spring period plants were falling about three weeks behind normal, but now they seem to be catching up. However the last two years I picked my first strawberries towards the end of May, but this year it will be mid June before I get a picking as the first few are only turning colour now. I grow strawberries to cover the whole summer to autumn period with early mid season, late and autumn fruiting perpetuals, but the unusually weird weather has them all at the same stage and ready

Delosperma nubigenum

to crop together. Global warming may have arrived up in Dundee.

One shaw of first early potato Casablanca got dug up to see how size is progressing. It is a salad potato so we do not expect big tubers. Just as well as we never got big tubers seems I may be a wee bit premature. They will need another week to gain size. They are a week

behind last year’s crop.

Rose Margaret merril

My first roses are now flowering, with white scented Margaret Merril first to bloom followed by yellow Arthur Bell. Climbing Dublin Bay and Gertrude Jekyll have also got a few flowers on the bushes. They are all responding to this unusually warm period of summer weather, lasting well over three weeks, which for us in Scotland is beyond our wildest dreams as we all expect summer weather to last about three days before rain returns. Some climate change at last!!!

In the flower borders flag iris, English iris and oriental poppies are all in full bloom and in the drier top of walls position my ground hugging yellow succulent Delosperma nubigenum and garden pinks have all started to flower.

Oriental poppies

Evergreen Japanese azaleas and deciduous azaleas are still flowering and the Cistus purpureus and Ceanothus are all in bloom so the garden has been a riot of colour for over three months. The warm dry weather lasting so long has been great for encouraging the spring bulbs to die down so the withered leaves of tulips, daffodils, crocus and grape hyacinths can be removed carefully so the bulbs stay in the ground. These areas can now be sown with annual flowers, such as Livingston daisies, Godetia, Candytuft, Cornflower and Love in a Mist which will hopefully give us some flowers from summer onwards. The bulbs underneath will be perfectly happy as they are dormant.

Geraniums

Up on the allotment the first strawberries are colouring up so it was necessary to lay straw up the rows and cover them with nets to keep out the birds.

Lettuce Lollo Rossa, Radish and Spring Onion sown earlier in the greenhouse and planted out against a warm south facing corrugated fence have been ready for picking since mid April.

Some seed germination has been abysmal. I only got one plant from a whole packet of lettuce Webs Wonderful, none from a packet of polyanthus, or the Red Veined Sheep Sorrel, eight from one packet of spring onions, yet my parsnips (normally a bit erratic to germinate) all germinated.

Gooseberry bushes were just laden with berries, but the plants did a big June drop though still leaving me with a great crop.

Wee jobs to do this week

Grape spur

Grape vines have been enjoying the recent warm dry weather and making a lot of spring growth. Now is a great time to start the summer pruning. Any growths that do not have a bunch of grapes

showing should be removed unless they have plenty of room in which case cut back to a couple of leaves as this spur may fruit next year. Cut back all fruiting shoots to two leaves after the grape bunch, and once side shoots grow cut these back to one leaf. Towards the end of summer start removing more side shoots to allow sunshine onto the developing grapes to help to ripen them up. Any shoot showing two or more bunches should have them reduced to one bunch per shoot.

END

KEEP PLANTS HEALTHY

KEEP PLANTS HEALTHY

Gooseberry sawfly

Looks like 2018 could be a bumper year for fruit crops. Apples, plums, pears and even my peach tree have been covered in blossom, and fruit bushes from strawberries, rasps, currants, saskatoons and gooseberries are all looking prolific. Even our weekend country walk around the Lairds Loch on Tullybaccart showed outdoor wild fruit of blaeberries, wild raspberries, brambles and elderberries all looking very prolific. However to reap the harvest we need to keep a watch on pests, diseases and weeds to take action before they take hold. Late spring has also been very dry and coupled with very warm weather at the end of May the hose has been in constant demand to keep plants watered. However this long dry hot spell has been brilliant for hoeing weeds as they shrivel up very quickly. Go back over the ground a few of days later and hoe out any survivors.

Greenfly on roses

The hot spell has been excellent in the greenhouse as both tomatoes, planted out mid May and my three grape vines are putting on plenty of healthy growth and fruits. Removal of side shoots of tomatoes is a constant job as is summer pruning young shoots on the grape vines to stop them being over vigorous at the expense of developing grapes. Watering and weekly feeding has now started on the tomatoes, and full ventilation of windows and doors has been necessary to avoid condensation and prevent mildew on the vines. So far this year there has been no signs of vine weevils so my nematode biological drench last year seems to have worked, though I found some in my tubs as I removed the polyanthus, a plant they just love.

Apple mildew

The June drop has started early with my cherry tree dropping a fair bit of fruit so I will keep an eye open on other top fruit trees to see if they also shed fruitlets. My outdoor peach tree Avalon Pride planted a couple of years ago is looking great with about two dozen peaches starting to form and peach leaf curl has not been a big problem. I just pick off those few affected leaves.

Redcurrant leaf blister mite

Blackfly on cherries has yet to start, but I watch over them just in case.
Greenfly has been rampant on my roses, so wiping them off with fingers was too big a task. I had to resort to spraying which soon sorted them out. Greenfly also had a go on my pansies so they got sprayed as well, and are now putting on a great show in pots and hanging baskets.

It was also necessary to use the sprayer on my gooseberries as my two bushes, appeared healthy one day then a few days later a thousand appeared with voracious appetites chomping through the foliage. Spraying sorted them out, and like all other fruits the crop potential looks very promising.

Rose rust

Slugs and snails however have been busy on salads, bedding plants, bulbs and strawberry beds so the pellets have had to be sprinkled. I thought they would have been dormant in the dry weather, but it has not deterred them from seeking out some tender new leaves.

Pea and bean weevils have been a nuisance on both these crops. I have never been able to find them on peas, but you can catch them on broad beans as they congregate at the top of the shoots.

Scale and sooty mould on rhododendron

Scale on rhododendrons has again appeared resulting in sooty mould covering the leaves, so once the flowers have faded the bushes will be sprayed with an insecticide targeting the undersides of the leaves as there are just too many leaves to clean up by hand.

Mildew on apples always appears at this time but removal of these primary infections on over wintered shoots stops it from spreading. Mildew and blackspot have not yet appeared on my roses, but rust has, but only on a few leaves so these have been removed before it spreads further.

Clubroot on cabbage, cauliflower and sprouts has been prevented by using resistant varieties so now all crops are growing strongly. Kale never seems to get affected so far. Fingers crossed.

Wee jobs to do this week

Newly planted hanging basket

Hanging baskets for summer display can now get planted up. There is an abundance of good plants available at garden centres to supplement your own home grown plants. Geraniums, fuchsias, French marigolds, Impatiens, nemesia, petunias and trailing lobelia are all excellent plants to use. Remember to make holes in the side to pop in a few plants so the basket can make a round ball of flowers and foliage. Always keep them well watered and give a fortnightly feed.

END

BEDDING PLANTS

BEDDING PLANTS

The spring bedding put on a fantastic display but now tulips, wallflower, polyanthus and myosotis are all past their best so it is time to replace them in tubs, hanging baskets and flower borders with summer bedding plants. Pansies always continue to bloom from spring well into summer so let them have extra time while still giving us plenty of flowers.

Anna waters the tubs of geraniums and begonias

However if you need the space they can be carefully transplanted to a border, and water in well, where they will continue to flower. Keep all tulip and crocus bulbs and dry them off so they can be replanted in early autumn in a border. When clearing tubs, pots and baskets check for vine weevils, slugs and snails and dispose of them before they get a chance to munch away at fresh foliage and roots, and remove any weeds. It is a good idea to replace some of the old compost with fresh compost

French Marigolds

and add in some fertiliser and some rock dust. Check out the security of wall brackets for hanging baskets as these can become loose over time and may need replacement of screws and plastic rawl plugs. Hanging baskets can be very heavy once plants are in full growth then they get watered. Everyone has their own favourite plants for hanging baskets. My favourites are geraniums, petunias, trailing lobelia, French marigolds, Tagetes, Impatiens, Nemesia, trailing begonias and fuchsias. This will give plenty to choose from when you select colours to match up. I line my baskets with polythene from compost bags turned inside out and cut holes in the sides for plants to make sure my baskets are covered with foliage and flowers. If the location has some shade then use fuchsias, geraniums, trailing begonias and impatiens, and keep

Bed of mixed geraniums

the petunias for full sun. Use blue petunias for scent near entrance doorways.

Tubs and borders get the same range but add some of the taller growing plants such as African marigolds, antirrhinum, cosmos and tuberous begonias. Salvias also put on a bright display of red flowers, but I have to admit it is the geraniums that flower first from spring onwards and are still flowering in October when we are ready to replace them with the next year’s spring bedding.

Plants ready for planting are available in garden centres, and some have plug plants to take home, pot up and grow into bigger plants for bedding. However the keen gardener can grow most of his own stock from seeds and geraniums and begonias can be retained year after year. My geranium stock of selected varieties is about twenty years. I take cuttings each autumn, and grow them on a windowsill over

Tubs planted with summer bedding plants

winter. In spring they get potted up and transferred to my cold greenhouse in March. I remove all flower buds over winter up till end March so plants can keep their energy into growing strong stocky plants. My training as an apprentice gardener in the nurseries at Camperdown Park where we grew geraniums by the thousands, way back in the nineteen sixties has stayed with me ever since. We saw the benefit of our work in the mass displays of colour all over the town and in Parks, open spaces and gardens. Paul Crampel was always the best red geranium.

My collection of tuberous begonias was started well over twenty years ago when I bought a batch of fifty ready to plant. After flowering all summer they get dried off for storing in winter then grow again in spring every year. If the tubers get too big I just chop them in half once the shoots are a few inches high. They never come to any harm as they are quite tough.

Preparation of the ground for pots, tubs and baskets before planting is always important as they need good fertile soil with plenty of compost to aid drainage and feed the growing plants. Most are fairly untroubled by pests and diseases but fuchsias, begonias and impatiens are favourites for vine weevils so if you think they could be a problem use a nematode based insecticide. Slugs and snails can also be a problem so watch out for them and use slug pellets if required.

Pumpkins ready for planting

Wee jobs to do this week

Now that drier sunny weather has had a chance to warm up the soil, we can now plant out courgettes and pumpkins. They are all gross feeders so make sure the ground has been well composted and add some fertiliser at planting. During the growing season keep them well watered and feed regularly. Plant out about a metre apart as they need plenty of room to grow, especially the pumpkins which have shoots that like to travel as far as allowed, before summer pruning.

END

MORE SPRING FLOWERS

MORE SPRING FLOWERS

Azalea Gibralter

Apple Red Falstaff

It seems the garden flowers from rock garden plants to trees are trying to make up for lost time. Although the cold winds never seem to die down, we get a couple of brilliant sunny days every week, and plants are quick to take advantage of any warmth as it arrives. My plans for adding tulips amongst other spring flowering plants based on past experience was fine under normal growing conditions, but with seasons running several weeks behind many of my combinations have been severely tested. All daffodils, narcissus and tulips are a lot later than normal, but peonies (under planted with tall Darwin Hybrid tulips) are up too soon and spoiling my

Japanese azalea

show. It has been a great spring for tulips and adding a few each year has been well rewarded, but

Doronicum with Tulip Abba

although they are now over their best, other spring flowers are taking the limelight. Tulip Apeldoorn and Purissima were both show stealers with bright colours good size, and red tulip Abba made a lovely contrast with the yellow Doronicum Little Leo. Down at ground level the red and pink Phlox subulata is a mass of

Iberis sempervirens

colour and with tulips still flowering behind the ground cover plants the combination works really well. Although most daffodils and narcissus are now past their best I have a new one planted last autumn called Sir Winston Churchill which is just flowering now in mid May. It is a beauty, but must be my last narcissus to flower, probably held well back by the cold spring.

Flowering cherries are at their best in gardens, parks, (Dawson Park) and along several streets such as Pentland Avenue. Fruit trees of apples, plum and pears are all in full bloom just now and there seems to be plenty of bees

Kerria japonica

around for pollination. However my apple Fiesta is having a rest this year as it cropped well in 2017 and unfortunately is a biennial bearer known to taking a year off from fruiting every second or third year. A smaller tree just coming into flower just now is the lilacs and looks like they are enjoying our weird weather as the trees are covered n scented blossom.

The shrub Berberis darwinii may only be a shrub, but left to grow unimpeded it can make a huge bush, twelve foot tall and spreads even further. They are a magnificent spectacle just now covered in bright orange flowers, but they produce masses of black berried

Narcissus Sir Winston Churchill

fruit which the birds just love, and then the seeds germinate and young plants grow very readily. A real nuisance.

Saskatoon bushes may be grown for the fruit but they are very ornamental when in flower, as are the blackberry Helen both now smothered in white flowers. Another white flowered plant perfect in the rock garden, used for ground cover or to grow over walls is the perennial candytuft Iberis sempervirens. However my yellow flowering Kerria japonica, the Jews mallow, left to grow as it wishes has made a huge eight feet tall bush smothered in flowers. Another small plant with yellow flowers is the Euphorbia polychroma, which only grows about a foot tall, but is very

Phlox subulata with red tulips

dramatic.

There are so many plants in all sizes flowering this spring that it is hard to know what to leave out. The Camellias are now over but Rhododendrons and Azaleas have a long flowering season beginning with R. praecox in March then the Japanese azaleas have their moment followed by any amount of rhododendrons

Tulip Apeldoorn

large and small.

Garden pinks now have the first flowers and provide a great scent in the garden, and another favourite is the yellow ground hugging succulent Delosperma nubigenum. A great plant for colour in a dry sunny place with poor soil and the dense canopy smothers out any weeds that try to grow.

Spring pansies

Tubs and hanging baskets with spring flowering Myosotis, Polyanthus and Pansies are at their best. Pansies can continue to flower for many weeks, but as they are all destined to be replaced with summer bedding plants quite soon I will replant them in a border with some spare space.

Regrowth on cut back fuchsia

Wee jobs to do this week

Outdoor Fuchsia Mrs Popple has not enjoyed the winter and most of the branches above ground appear to have died, but do not give up on them as Mrs Popple has done this in the past only to regrow again from shoots below ground level. I had taken a batch of cuttings last autumn which have all rooted so I could replace any that have passed away. However after a few weeks I see new shoots emerging from all my cut severely cut back outdoor fuchsias.

END

A DAY ON THE PLOT

A DAY ON THE PLOT

Weather on Tayside has been perfect for gardening these last few weeks. We have had enough rainfall to moisten the soil, followed by some dry warm

Anna weeding the flower border at City Road Allotments

days to catch up on planting and sowing.

Blackcurrants in flower

Green manure crops of tares and clover sown last autumn have all been dug in. Their fibrous root system has been great for breaking up the soil and it has been easy to get a good deep surface tilth.

Lettuce, radish, spring onions, beetroot and rocket were all sown several weeks ago in the greenhouse in cellular trays to give me strong plug plants for planting. They were planted in the shelter of my south facing allotment fence (sheets of corrugated iron) to give them ideal conditions for rapid growth so harvesting can begin in a few weeks time for some, though the beetroot takes a wee while longer. These salads will be followed by more of the same sown direct outdoors to give a succession of cropping. I have extended the salad sowings to include a row of Red Veined Sorrel, Rainbow Chard and Spinach Matador.

Turnip Golden ball for summer picking and Swede Best of All for cropping in autumn and winter were also sown. Other root crops included Beetroot Detroit, and Cylindra,

Chrysanthemums just planted

Parsnip Albion and Student. Parsnips are slow to germinate so it is necessary to mark the rows and as I have found germination to be a bit erratic I sow the seeds thicker than normal. If I get a good germination they can easily be thinned out. I am also trying out some Salsify, a root crop I grew forty years ago, so thought I would try it again. A row of Carrot Nantes has been sown in between four rows of onions in the hope of escaping the attention of carrot fly. These onion sets planted in mid April are now all growing strongly. I have two varieties, Centurion and Stuttgarter Giant for comparison.

Leeks sown in early March are all through the ground but still quite small as good warm growing weather has been in short supply.

Broad beans

Potatoes are all through and although they were earthed up against a late frost a few weeks ago they now need another final earthing up.

Strawberry flowers in May

Broad bean Aquadulce sown in early March was a fast grower so quickly hardened off and got planted out in mid April. They are well established but need constant checking for pea and bean weevils, where one or two can be found on nearly all plants.

Sweet corn Incredible sown two months ago grew quickly, to allow planting of good sized plants two months later. They like fertile soil and a fair spacing to achieve good sized cobs.

Thinning turnip seedlings

Brussels sprouts Crispus, Cabbage Kilaton and Cauliflower Clapton were all sown carefully in the best conditions to achieve maximum germination. They are all clubroot resistant and seem to be very expensive as there are only 20 seeds in each packet. The cabbage and cauliflower were sown in batches of ten seeds each with the rest to be sown a couple of months later to give successional cropping.  

Cut flower plants such as Sweet peas, Gladioli and Chrysanthemums are important to add colour to the plot as well as flowers for the house, and the allotment plot has a flower border that is just a riot of colour with tulips and daffodils creating a dramatic spring display.

Strawberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and bramble Helen are now all flowering and looking good. One row of strawberries is under tunnels, but these have to be opened to allow pollinating insects to find them as well as letting in some of our heavy summer showers. Last year I picked my first strawberry at the end of this month, but as the season is running three to four weeks late I may have to wait till June for my first berry, unless the jet stream moves north and lets in some warm sunny weather from the south. Fingers crossed!!!

Wee jobs to do this week

Mixed Tulips

Tulips may have had a late but brilliant spring but now they are going over it is time to dead head them so the plant can retain its energy for building up a good bulb to flower next year. Those bulbs grown in tubs which are to be replaced with summer bedding plants, can be carefully lifted with a good ball of soil and replanted in a border to add colour in following years.
END

A DAY IN THE GREENHOUSE

A DAY IN THE GREENHOUSE

As cold winds continue to delay a decent spring day, plants grown under glass and now needing to harden off are having to be patient. The hardier types such as chrysanthemums and geraniums have been out for a few weeks, but threats of overnight frosts meant they had to be brought back inside for protection. The same applied to rooted fuchsia

Erica gives John a hand with the watering

cuttings now a decent size and some starting to flower, but they are too young and soft to be hardy. Cabbage, cauliflower, kale and Brussels sprouts were all raised under glass and are now hardened off and ready to plant out. Kale never seems to be affected by clubroot disease but all the other brassicas are, so I now only grow the resistant varieties, so my cabbages are Kilaton, cauliflowers are Clapton and Brussels sprouts are Crispus.
I grow these brassicas under the best conditions as I need perfect germination as you only get 20 seeds in each packet so no room failures. Last year I tried the clubroot resistant swede Invitation, but the roots were small and tough so not worth growing.

Geranium from autumn cutting

Spring onions are always started in the greenhouse in cellular trays as outdoors the germination is very poor. They grow better in decent compost then once they have put on some growth they get hardened off and planted out on the plot a couple of weeks later.

Although my main batch of geraniums are now hardened off and put outdoors, I have taken all the tips out as another batch of cuttings. They will be kept in the greenhouse a few weeks till they root and begin to grow, then get potted up, and after another couple of weeks in the greenhouse, they are ready to go outdoors.

Overwintered chrysanthemum stools put on plenty of growth giving me nearly one hundred cuttings. They root very easy and are fairly tough so they are now outdoors and ready to put into final pots. The old stools still had plenty of green shoots so they have been planted in a border.

Young Fuchsia plant

Outdoor Fuchsias taken as cuttings last autumn have all rooted and been potted up. They grow so well that some are now beginning to flower so they have all been hardened off.

Sweet corn seedlings had also been potted up, then after a fortnight put outdoors to harden off.

Tuberous begonias are always slow to grow so they remain in the greenhouse. As there is no room left on my tomato border the begonias can sit happily under my row of grape vines. Once I see all the begonia shoots they will get replanted into bigger boxes with more space. They are usually the last to get hardened off probably by the end of the month.

Grape shoots with wee bunches

The grape vines have now all got plenty of young shoots growing. Let them put on a fair bit of growth, but once you can see plenty of grape bunches, it is time to start the pruning. Any shoots that have no bunches on them can be removed or if there is plenty of space cut back to one or two leaves, which can be removed later. If any shoots have two bunches remove the weakest otherwise grape size will be reduced if you ask the vine to produce too many grapes. As shoot growth continues it will need controlling so cut back all shoots to two leaves after each bunch of grapes.

Tomatoes are all growing strongly in their final pots before planting out, but as yet at the beginning of May I do not see any truss with that first flower, so no planting out yet. However the chances are that by the time you read this they will all be happily set out into permanent positions in my well prepared tomato border.

Although we seem to get plagued by cold winds, the greenhouse temperatures can rise dramatically on sunny days so keep the ventilators open wide as long as possible, only closing them at night while clear skies run the risk of an over night frost. Condensation builds up over night but soon clears when ventilation begins in the morning.

Removing flowers from rhubarb plants

Wee jobs to do this week

Rhubarb is now throwing up flowering shoots. Remove them with a knife down to a large leaf, as
the plant needs to save its energy to produce plenty stalks over the summer. They are heavy feeders so give them a feed and keep the plants well watered. They benefit from a mulch of compost but keep it off the crowns. The first light picking will be done this month.
END

TOMATOES

TOMATOES

It’s that time of year again when all keen gardeners and allotment plot holders with a greenhouse get quite excited about this year’s challenge of growing better tomatoes than last year. Tomatoes take priority from most other crops under glass as

Beef steak tomatoes

the reward of fresh produce over the summer season makes the effort very worthwhile.

Good varieties to grow

Every year new varieties appear so we all like to try something new, but still stick to some of our tried and tested successful varieties. In my Dundee greenhouse my hard to beat maincrop remains Alicante though others swear by Shirley, and my best red cherry type is Sweet Million, and Sungold my best yellow cherry. This year I have added Yellow Delight to my yellow cherry types and Red Cherry to compete with Sweet Million. I don’t usually go for the plum or beefsteak tomatoes but this year I will try out Marmande, a large fruited beefsteak type with few seeds. However seed catalogues list a huge range of varieties so every year you can try out a couple of new ones

Alicante tomatoes

to put to the test. For those lacking a greenhouse it is worth trying a bush tomato such as Tumbler, Montello, Peardrops, Hundreds and Thousands or Tumbling Tom in pots plunged into growbags (two to a bag) or in a hanging basket. Up north it may be best to select a sheltered south facing wall to give them some warmth and protect them from cold fierce winds.

Culture

Tomato Ilde

Sow seed in early March in shallow seed trays then about three weeks later they should be ready to prick out into small pots. Grow these for another couple of weeks then transplant into bigger pots. Wait till the first flower on the first truss has opened as a guide to when to plant into their final positions. They can be grown in large pots, growbags or border soil in a greenhouse or outdoors if sheltered and against a south facing warm wall. If using the border soil in a greenhouse there is a chance of getting bacterial wilt disease after a few years. However you can dig out the infected soil, sterilise the border and replace it with fresh soil. This is very hard work, but a great exercise and growing tomatoes in soil results in a full flavoured crop that is hard to beat when picked and consumed fresh off the vine.

Cherry tomatoes

Bush and trailing varieties are left to grow naturally, but the rest are grown as upright cordons supported on canes or strong string tied at roof height to a strong support as there is a lot of weight once they all get into full cropping. Remove all sideshoots carefully as they grow and give the cordons a daily wee shake to assist self pollination. Keep water off the foliage and give plenty ventilation to keep fungal diseases at bay. Start feeding with tomato fertiliser as the first truss fruits begin to swell and continue weekly. Keep the plants well watered to prevent blossom end rot due to calcium deficiency as this mineral needs moisture to carry into all parts of the plant.

Cherry tomatoes

Cropping and use

Allow the fruit to ripen up fully before picking to gain the maximum flavour. Fresh tomatoes fully ripe in a summer salad are just heavenly and the red and yellow cherry tomatoes sitting in a bowl on the table are hard to resist when walking by. Even when crops are at their peak in mid season there is always a use for some tomatoes. A bacon, egg and mushroom fry up needs some tomatoes, then pasta is enhanced by adding tomatoes and they are almost essential on a pizza. As the cropping glut continues surplus can be skinned for a delicious tomato soup. After this surplus can be frozen without any preparation to be used as required till the following years crops arrive.

Sowing courgettes and pumpkins

Wee jobs to do this week

The first week in May is my traditional time to sow courgettes and pumpkins in the greenhouse.
I sow them in shallow wide pots then after germination, prick them out individually into small pots. They will get potted up again after a couple of weeks as they grow fast and should be ready to plant out early in June when all danger of a late frost is passed.

END