Root Crops

SOW ROOT CROPS NOW

Now is a perfect time to start sowing the root crops in the vegetable patch. The soil is warming up just fine, it is moist and well weathered having been dug over early last winter. Root crops enjoy land that was well manured for a previous crop, such as beans or onions so it has plenty of humus but no fresh manure or compost, otherwise roots tend to split or fork.

Potatoes, however, may be a root crop but their needs are very different as they do require well manured land, being heavy feeders and scab is always a problem if the soil is poor.

Root crops tend to follow the heavy feeders in the rotation but remember turnips and swedes are brassicas and can suffer club root so they must not follow the cabbage or sprouts.

I tend to keep all my root crops together and run a four year rotation to try and avoid clubroot and carrot fly. Root crops include carrots, turnips and swedes, parsnips, beetroot, radish and if you fancy something different sow some salsify and scorzonera.

Most of these can be sown now and carrots and beetroot can also be sown as catch crops in late summer using spare land that has just had a crop harvested such as cabbage, early potatoes, salads, French and broad beans. However you will need to use a quick maturing variety.

Carrots

My best ever carrots were an early sowing of Early Nantes on the side of my celery trench hoping to catch a quick crop before I started to earth up the celery. I beat the carrot fly and got such a heavy crop that most of them had to go into the freezer. This helped to sweeten them up significantly.

Autumn King was always a reliable heavy cropper, but carrot fly is such a problem as the amateur gardener has no chemical cure available. We have to resort to barriers (fleece) or resistant varieties. I have not found these to be very resistant and they lack the flavour of our standard varieties.

Turnip, swedes and radish

Golden Ball and Purple Top Milan will give us some early turnips and good Swedes are plentiful and take us right through the winter. I grow my radish adjacent as they can all be prone to clubroot so I limit its spread.

Parsnip

Roasted parsnips will add class to numerous meals, so I aim to grow enough to last from about November, (or earlier if we get a frost to sweeten them up) to the following spring.

I prepare a deep seedbed in late April or early May then mark my row, but before sowing I go along the row pushing a spade down to create a deep slit. This is filled with friable soil or old compost. Mark the row again and sow four to five seeds every eight inches apart. After germination thin these to one seedling. They are very slow to germinate so I sow radish in between plant stations.

Salsify and scorzonera

If you enjoy healthy food try these as they are packed with nutrients and minerals. I found them to have a similar flavour to sweet corn, though it is said they taste like oysters. Grow them like parsnips but spaced closer. The scorzonera root is black and both must be lifted carefully to stop the long deep roots from breaking. There are now numerous recipes for them as they are becoming the latest healthy plant to try out.

Beetroot

Another fantastic health food that can go in salads, served in a sweet and sour dressing and they also make a delicious soup. Even the leaves can be eaten in salads or stir fried, and nothing will beat your own beetroot chutney or pickled baby beet from early thinning.

They fit in very well as a baby beet catch crop in between other crops. Grow an early batch in cellular trays in the glasshouse then transplant outside in early May. They will interplant along the rows of sweetcorn and get harvested before the corn plant needs the space.

Plant of the week

Impatiens, (Bizzie Lizzie) has always been a very popular summer bedding plant for tubs and hanging baskets. Although a perennial it is treated as an annual and usually propagated from seed. However once you get a range of really good colours you can take cuttings and keep plants all year round. They also make good house plants for a sunny windowsill. Probably the cheapest method is to buy small plug plants in spring and grow them on. Plug plants are a perfect size for hanging baskets where you can pop them through the side of the basket as well as the top and once fully grown will smother the whole basket in flowers.

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GOOD PLANTING WEATHER

GOOD PLANTING WEATHER

Scotland, unlike much of England, does not seem to be troubled much with drought and the warm early spell in March has set up the garden for a promising year. Although frequent showers can be a nuisance when you want to crack on with the planting and sowing it is giving us perfect soil conditions for these tasks. However don’t rush onto the ground if it is still wet and even when ground conditions are perfect hold back planting if the air temperature is still cold.

Hardening off plants is now in full flow. Established geraniums have been out since mid April and cabbages and Brussels sprouts both grown in trays are also hardening off for planting at the end of April. However be careful with Busy Lizzies as they are easily affected by a sudden drop in temperature and petunias, marigolds and fuchsias are not much better.

Several fuchsias bought in March as plugs are destined for hanging baskets and after potting up they made excellent growth. The tops were pinched out to make them branch and these were used as cuttings which rooted very quickly and now need potting up.

More potting up

Tuberous begonias started off in the house then transferred to the cold greenhouse have sprouted really well and are now being potted and boxed up to give them more room. My tubers must be over fifteen years old and frequently get split up to increase stock. Some tubers have up to eight shoots on them so will benefit from splitting. Use a sharp knife and make sure each piece has plenty of tuber on it. If you have any sulphur rub it onto the cut surface to seal it and prevent disease. If you don’t have any, don’t worry, I don’t have any and have never lost any yet. Begonias are tough.

Himalayan blue poppies overwintered outdoors in cellular trays are now growing quite strongly so they are now potted up in separate pots. They are very hardy and only need dappled sunlight but keep them moist at all times.

Planting

Tomato plants have been hardened off and after a few days getting climatised in the cold greenhouse have been planted into their growbags. I am growing Alicante, my favourite large tomato and Gardeners Delight, also a favourite with Sweet Million my best cherry tomato. I have never found a sweeter cherry tomato so although the seed is expensive and the packet only has about fifteen seeds in it, I still get enough for two years plants as I only need to fill one growbag with three plants.

Some hanging baskets with geraniums, lobelia and petunias can now be planted up and left to establish in a sunny sheltered spot sat on top of a large flower pot to keep it from falling over. They will not be hung up till I am happy all the plants are growing strongly and have started to flower.

Other baskets with fuchsias and Busy Lizzies will have to wait a bit longer till there is room in my greenhouse, or summer returns to remove all threat of a late cold snap.

Fruit trees now in full flower

Peaches and dwarf cherries put on a great show of blossom, but time will tell how successful pollination has been. Plums and pears had hardly any flowers, though most of my pear tree has been grafted so I will have to wait till next year for these shoots to ripen up for fruiting. Apple trees have all got plenty blossom except Fiesta which has a tendency for biennial cropping, so this must be its off year as I got a good crop last year. Saskatoon bushes are covered in flowers yet again.

Pests

Greenfly on my roses are now breeding at full vigour so the sprayer will have to come out and gooseberry sawfly larvae have appeared again and will chomp through the bushes unless you discourage them with a wee bit of chemical.

Early carrots have been covered with fleece to keep out the carrot fly.

Plant of the week

Iceland Poppies has always been my favourite poppy as it is very early and mixes with all the other spring bedding flowers and tulips and will also fit into the front of the herbaceous border. Seed can be selectively harvested from your favourite flowers in early summer then sown a few weeks later in cellular trays. They germinate easily and grow rapidly so transplant them into bigger trays which will be ready for planting in October to where they are to flower the following spring and summer.

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BARNHILL ROCK GARDEN

BARNHILL ROCK GARDEN

Rock gardens were always an essential part of the training of an apprentice gardener in the sixties. Training took in every aspect of gardening from vegetables, fruit, flowers, trees, lawns, outdoor sports facilities, shrubs, roses, herbaceous and rock garden plants. Not many parks in Dundee had rock gardens, but one had been created at Barnhill in the perfect spot of a south facing rocky terrain amongst sand dunes so drainage could not be better. The area is also open to view alongside the Broughty Ferry Esplanade, so Dundee folk can see and enjoy the mature rock gardens seldom troubled by theft or vandalism.

The gardens were started in 1955 when an area of volcanic rock was cleared to form the first part of the rock garden. This was further extended eastwards through an area of sand dunes using rock imported from Carmylie Quarry.

The gardens are run and maintained by Dundee City Council Environment Dept through resident gardener Michael Laird in collaboration with the charity Friends of Barnhill Rock Garden. The Friends play an enormous role involving the local community in arranging events at the gardens, growing and planting plants, and fund raising to help improve and maintain the garden. There are nearly 500 friends in the charity but with ambitious plans to maintain and develop the gardens more friends are always very welcome. The Friends also arrange several trips to other Gardens open to the public throughout the year for their members.

Recently, a new scree area has been created and planted. At the rear of the gardens new birch trees have been added for interest and shelter and local children have volunteered to plant up additional areas of snowdrops helping to create a snowdrop woodland as a visitor attraction.

Volunteers from local schools, cubs, scouts and the community play a large part in planting, weeding and keeping litter under control.

A brand new glasshouse was gifted to the Friends by Dundee Contemporary Arts and is now used for community meetings and events as well as an interpretation centre for the gardens history and current projects.

A new pergola and patio area was established and now hosts live music and events at garden functions.

A nursery and poly tunnel are used for propagation of plants for the garden. Another area is used for recycling all garden waste to create compost for mulching and soil improvement.

The gardens show a wonderful range of alpines suited to very dry scree terrain as well as waterside planting with pools running through the gardens. There are also many fine examples of maritime plants though I am told salt spray from the sea has never really been a big problem. Close proximity to sea has also helped to keep the gardens relatively frost free.

The gardens have been very successful in winning many awards for community involvement and as a visitor attraction for both locals as well as tourists.

I saw some absolute gems of plants both in the rock garden beds and scree as well as the woodlands including Trilliums and Arisaema.

However it was sad to see so many eucalyptus trees devastated by our hard winters of previous years. Mike was hopeful that funds could be found to have them cut back to stumps to let them regenerate with fresh new growth.

Plant of the week

Berberis darwinii is one of the most popular Barberry on account of its versatility. It was always a favourite for urban landscaping in Parks Departments as it is very spiky, vigorous, will grow on any soil and evergreen so it is the perfect plant for any area prone to vandalism. It can grow to ten feet tall or more unless it gets some pruning so can make a great hedge. In April it gets covered in bright orange flowers which bees just love. Then a huge crop of black berries is produced in autumn which feed the birds for weeks. I use it as my companion plant for my plum tree to attract bees for pollination as they both flower at the same time.

Painting of the month

Monday Evening Art class is an acrylic painting completed by one of my students using the Monday evening art class as his models taken from a photograph as they were all busy painting unaware that they were about to be captured on canvas. The likeness to the other students is remarkable as they are all identifiable as are all their paintings. This painting plus many others completed recently by the students will be on show at our Spring Art Exhibition at Dundee Botanical Gardens from Saturday 21^st April to Wednesday 2^nd May 2012.

Open every day from 11am to 4.30pm.

Although I have about thirty students of all ages and abilities and all amateurs and beginners their creativity has produced some fantastic paintings.

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UNPREDICTABLE CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE GARDEN

UNPREDICTABLE CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE GARDEN

If you have a large garden plus an allotment and you grow a wide range of plants you can learn a lot about gardening if time is on your side and you can compare one years growing with numerous others. To get the best out of plants you need to consider the soil, growing techniques and local climate. After many years of gardening it is very pleasing to be able to pass on your experience to others interested in gardens, plants and growing crops. However advice is always based both on past experience and the current weather regime. The problem arises in that as I right this column today looking out my window wondering if our cold frosty start to April will still be there when you read this a week later on Saturday 14^th April.

After a really mild winter it was very pleasant when summer arrived in early March and continued till the end of the month. It was hardly surprising when winter returned in April, but it did give us all a shock, and where will it go from here?

The Gamble

Plants do not gamble with the weather. They are controlled by growth hormones that react to a range of stimuli including gravity, water, temperature and day length. Most plants will germinate and grow if they have sufficient moisture and warm weather. Last month was so warm that you could not hold any plant back, and it lasted so long that we gardeners began to wonder if it was possible that maybe it could last a few more weeks. So there was always a wee temptation to gamble and take advantage of the early summer.

The Winners

Recently planted broad beans, sweet peas, young saskatoons, onion sets (my onion seed Hytech gave a miserable germination this year) and leek seeds are all well established and not affected by the return of cold weather.

Swiss chard from last year has started to grow again and provide us with fresh spring greens, and spring cabbage is putting on excellent growth.

First cutting of rhubarb is earlier than previous years but remember to remove those flowering shoots.

Zygocactus, the Christmas cactus flowered normally last December, then after drying off returned to flower a second time a month later. It then got dried off again, but now it is back into flower for a third time. It must be as bewildered as me, but great to see it in full flower again.

Cuttings of grape vines just love the early summer and have all burst into growth, but when winter returned in April I removed them from my cold greenhouse to our living room windowsill for a few days till we get back to a bit of normality.

The Losers

Early strawberries under tunnels are now in flower, but recent frosts have blackened a few flowers.

Peaches enjoyed the warmth with a lot of pink flowers that I hand pollinated with my sable paint brush. Even with the summer weather there is still very few pollinating insects around. I had to protect the flowers with fleece sheets while frost threatens. Time will tell if it worked.

Tulips were very early but many got flattened with the weight of snow on them, though there is still a great display.

My pear tree grafted with extra varieties last year, have all started to grow very early this year. Beurre Hardy, Conference and Christie are all perfect but young Comice foliage has shrivelled up in the cold spell.

One loser I am happy to live with is the greenfly colony trying to take over my climbing rose Dublin Bay. The frosty weather sorted a lot of them out so no need to get the sprayer out just yet.

Plant of the week

Polyanthus was to be my plant of the week for the first week in May, but they have been flowering from early February and are at there best now.  They are perfect for beds, borders, tubs and hanging baskets. Grow them from seed sown in May to June in seed trays kept moist, shaded and cool. Prick out into cellular trays when big enough to handle, grow on for a few more weeks then line out in prepared soil and grow on till autumn when they can be transplanted into their permanent places.

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