Random Gardening Chatter

Hey

Long time for me on here, almost 3 years! Well, I have been a busy bee, moved countries a couple of times, moved houses even more but finally settled back into Monda life, and loving it. Some new hens have come to join the party and the garden has had quite a few changes, including a new parking area, the shed turned into an office and the door moved from one side to the other, whole 3,000 m2 strimmed and turned over, a new vegetable/fruit patch has been dug with raised beds and breeze blocks used for planting some of the more delicate plants; strawberries.

There was a lot of bamboo growing own the garden and it wass starting to look a mess, so we chopped that down, stripped it back to the bare bamboo, dried it and made a fence out of it, there is a section of the garden which doesn't ever look nice, around the back of the chicken coop, so the free bamboo growing down the garden came in very handy.

As you can see, now the bamboo gate is in place, all the crap round the back of the chicken coop is now hidden from view, it looks much tidier from the track now too - very impressed with myself and what a way to save some money and keep the garden tidy at the same time!

I also planted a lot of raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants and redcurrants, they are all very happy to be in the ground and are growing well for this time of year, we have a mild winter so we might as well take the opportunity to make the most of it and get growing!

I made a small rockery near my new car park also and that has made a real nice feature alongside the vegetable patch.

Well, I hope to bring more news as I work through the garden and I promise it won't be as long a wait as the last post!

March Gardening

March! The gardening year starts here. The milder weather means keen gardeners can get busy in a month of preparations for a blooming summer garden. Order your mail order seeds and buy summer-flowering bulbs.


How To Sow Vegetable Seeds
Now's the time to clear a spot for your kitchen garden or sow carrots, parsnips, summer cauliflowers, rhubarb, Brussels sprouts, leeks and onions.

1) Prepare the ground where crops are to be grown by raking the soil to remove stones and weeds. Level the surface.

2) Mark out rows with cane and a length of strong, then take out a shallow groove or seed drill with the back of a rake or tip of a cane.

3) Sow seeds thinly along the drill, spacing them evenly, or sow several seeds at regular points and thin out once the seedlings appear.

4) Cover seeds thinly with soil and tap down with a rake. On heavy soil, cover with potting compost for a more even layer.

Get to grips with weeds before they get grips with your plants! The most common culprits are bindweed, couch grass, nettles, docks and thistles. Banish them from borders using a hoe to uproot them or use a spray to clear paths and patios.

If you have roses they will need a feed of rose fertiliser. Give shrubs a general feed. Scatter around the base of the plants. A layer of mulch, compost or bark, will also prevent the dreaded weed seeds from taking hold and protect the plants from late frosts!

Gardening November & December

Get outside and do it now......

November has now past and we are getting well into the festive season, I hope you managed to do your gardening chores!?

You will notice a chilly nip in the air in November which acts as a reminder to get the garden tidy-up underway before the weather turns too cold. Make a few forays into the garden and you'll be set up for a blooming spring.

Get your greenhouse gleaming to make the most of the winter light. Put in a good bit of elbow grease to clean off grime and algae that have accumulated on the glass over the summer. It helps if you have a high pressure jet wash, but be careful! Also clean garden pots and containers.

Pot up fuschias and other tender plants that you'll be wintering in your greenhouse and water sparingly. If you are still lucky to have bedding plants in flower, protect them overnight with a fleece. Whip this off in the morning, this way you can enjoy your cheery blooms for a while longer :)

If you have a good crop of apples, store them wrapped in newspaper in the garden shed, that way they won't rot so easily and you'll have supplies for months.

There's still time to plant out spring-flowering bulbs in containers and borders. Group tulips and daffodils together and plant snowdrops and lily of the valley (first signs of spring) around trees or in window boxes.

December Gardening

Robins not only provide a pretty diversion in your garden, but will carry out essential pest patrol. They scoff up soil grubs and take away caterpillars and a host of other nuisances. To attract birds into your garden this winter, give them a free lunch. They are partial to seeds, peanuts and fat. Serve them on a bird table as this is high enough off the ground from any predators - such as my cats! They will also require a clean supply of water to drink or use as a bath. It also helps if you have a supply of shrubs with berries and plants that provide seed heads for them to eat.

Use a fleece to cover plants susceptible to frost, but if you are blessed with borders of evergreens, you're in for a real treat and they look wonderful with a light covering of frost.

Plant A Tree
If your garden is looking bare, now's the ideal time to plant a tree so its roots can establish before spring. You won't have leaves on it in winter, but it will still provide colour, height and interest.

1) Cut a circle of turf from your lawn, making the centre. Dig a hole deep enough for the root section and break up the hard soil around so the roots can work their way into it more easily and establish.
2) Hammer in a stout wooden stake to the base of the hole. Position the tree next to it and sprinkle in granular fertiliser. Cover with soil and water well.
3) Attach the tree to the stake with a tree tie so it is well supported. Lastly spread a layer of mulch around it to stop weeds competing for water and nutrients.

Gardening Explained

Get to grips with simple techniques and you'll be able to get the most from your garden. It's really easy once you what's what!

Learn the Lingo
It's easily taken for granted, but your soil needs a good feed if it's going to produce blooming spring and summer displays. Most soils need improving, and they're a greedy lot. You need to dig in organic matter such as garden manure or compost and give it a good helping or fertiliser.

Dig in plenty of organic matter on newly laid borders and beds, and for beds already planted, top with a generous layer of mulch in the winter. Add fertiliser just before sowing or planting.

Fertilisers are concentrated plant foods and an essential supplement to bulky manures. A good inorganic fertiliser is Growmore. Some plants are fussier than others and roses like their own special rose fertiliser which contains more potash and magnesium than a general purpose feed. For most gardens, compound fertiliser, which has a good mix of all nutrients, hits the mark for most other uses.

Many plants are able to scale the heights without support, but others will be crying out for help. There are two types of plants that need a helping hand: climbers and varieties with weak stems.

Trellis is one of the most attractive supports for climbers such as clematis and honeysuckle. Fix these lattice work wood frames on to walls and fences or erect free standing panels.

To make more of a feature of your climbing plants, you could choose a permanent structure such as a pergola, arch, gazebo or pillar. The plants you grown on them will probably need tying in to the structure at intervals, but they will have free range to spread at will.

Use bamboo canes for individual plants. Delphiniums will appreciate this sort of support. Tie in the stems with soft garden twine at intervals.

Removing Lawn Weeds
Dig out persistent weeds before they make themselves at home in your lawn. No one minds the odd daisy, but it's best to root out the less attractive visitors once you spot them.

1. Use a hand trowel to dig out perennial weeds. Remove every bit of the root, especially the long tap root of dandelions.
2. You will have a hole in your lawn where the weed had settled. Level this by adding a little potting compost, which will also enrich the soil. Mix it in well.
3. Sprinkle the grass seed over the bare patch. Mix it into the soil surface to ensure it is evenly spaced and just covered with soil. Water with a fine hose.
4. To speed up germination and keep the birds off, spread a sheet of clear polythene over the patch and peg in place. Remove this once the seedlings start to emerge.


Pot Up Rooted Cuttings
Root cuttings you've been nurturing on the windowsill should now be in prime condition for potting.

1. Remove cuttings from their pot to see how well rooted they are. If a strong root system fills the pot then it's ready, steady, go!
2. Gently ease the cuttings apart. Don't worry if some of the roots get broken, as long as each cutting finishes with its own rootball.
3. Replant each cutting in multi purpose compost in a 7.5cm (3in) pot. Push the compost down around the roots and water well.
4. Keep the plants well watered in a frost free greenhouse or other warm, light position. Feed weekly after about six weeks. Plant outside once all risk of frost is past.

Perk up Your Pergola
It's hard to beat seating under a perfumed filled pergola in the summer. If you can make an Ikea bed, you'll have no problems assembling these. You can buy kits from a garden centre. But you will need someone to help you position the pieces plus a few tools - spirit level, hammer and drill.

Once in position, you can either woodstain it with a natural colour or paint it a bright cheerful colour. Smaller, but just as pretty when covered in roses are arches that lead from one part of the garden to another.

What To Grow
When it's been built, create an attractive feature under your pergola using pots and grasses. Striking blue-grass Elymus magellanicus looks lovely in terracotta pots.

In summertime, when most climbing plants come into their own. For a summer stunner, it's hard to beat Clematis 'Albatross'.

If you don't want your pergola to look bare in autumn and early winter choose a winter flowering honeysuckle, like the creamy white and fragrant flowers of Lonicera and standishii.


Container Dressing
You'll already have planted your spring bulbs, but there's nothing to stop you smartening their pots by covering the earth with gravel, flint or silvery stones. It looks stunning and stops the squirrels helping themselves to lunch!

Plants For The Garden

To enable the different elements of gardening to blend comfortably and attractively, there has to be a balance. These elements can be largely dictated by the trees, shrubs and flowers that you choose to grow in it.

By opting for for plants that complement and harmonise with other aspects of the garden, such as the paving or lawn, and its overall size and shape, you can create a framework in which art and nature reach a happy equilibrium.

Making a garden is an intensely personal business. What one person loves, another may hate. Such varying reactions are often to do with the level of harmony and contrast in the planting. Very harmonious gardens, where all the colours match, and clashes or surprises are avoided, are soothing, restful places. Those who like more stimulation may prefer gardens with lots of vivid, contrasting colours, or a wide and dramatic range of leaf shapes and plant forms.

Harmony in gardens is relatively east to achieve with single colour schemes. White gardens are particularly rewarding and straight forward. Plantings based on colour contrast are more difficult to get right, and are much more personal. Mixing strong colours can create results that are vibrant to some, but obtrusive to others.

Some gardeners are happy to have most of their garden flowering at once. They like to see a spring garden with lots of bulbs, or an early summer garden with roses and perennials, and they are happy to let it rest for the remainder of the year. Most gardeners, though, prefer to attempt a long season of interest, which involves trying to interweave plants so that there is always something or some part, that looks good.

A garden takes time to develop, and never stands still. Planning planting for the short, medium and long term helps avoid the great gaps that can try the patience of even the most dedicated. Trees, needless to say, are the most long term, often maturing long after we have gone. Shrubs, too, can take many years to look their best, which can mean that a garden that is heavily reliant on them may take rather a while to develop. Herbaceous perennials look established with remarkable speed, whereas annuals fulfil their promise and disappear within a year. It makes good sense, then, to include all these different plant forms in a garden.

Autumn Lawn Care

If you really care about your grass then the next few weeks of autumn will be a busy time for you in the garden. Between now and April is the best time of year to concentrate on your lawn care.
 
Your autumn lawn care is best to get started as early as possible to give your lawn a better chance of surviving the winter, taking you into the following spring in a much better condition. Ideally, you should start considering your chores early September into October, this is because the ground is still warm and should be maintained before the temperature drops and leaves your lawn dormant.
 

Top Three Tips to Autumn Lawn Care

Preparing the Lawn:
Prepare your lawn by raking and removing thatch which can become a problem and affect the health of your lawn, carry out this task as soon as possible to allow the lawn a full recovery. Moss spores are produced in the autumn so control of this if vital for your lawn, to minimise moss you will need to aerate, you can do this by spiking the ground every 4inches or so.
 
Lawn Dressing
Now you have completed your preparation, your next step will be to dress the lawn. Applying a top dressing will improve the surface texture, dilute the thatch layer and thicken up the soil beneath. A good mixture of top dressing for your lawn would be loam and sand (70-80% sand), work this into the lawn using the back of a rake.
 
Feeding your Lawn
You may have some bare patches as a result of the usage this summer so a suitable autumn lawn fertilizer should be applied to help maintain a healthy look throughout the cold months. You can apply your seed by hand or a mechanical spreader but make sure you rake well. For your autumn lawn care the fertiliser should be low on nitrogen and high in phosphate and potash, keep a watch on the weather and feed your lawn when you are confident rains will assist to help wash in the granules.
 
Your lawn is now ready for the winter months that wait ahead, your grass roots of the lawn will now reap the benefits of your hard work and by next spring you will be the envy of all friends and neighbours.

Plants for the Garden

To enable the different elements of a garden to blend comfortably and attractively, there has to be balance, which can to a large degree be dictacted by the trees, shrubs and flowers that you choose. By opting for plants that complement and harmonize with other aspects of the garden, such as the paving or lawn, and its overall size and shape, you can create a framework in which art and nature reach a happy equilibrium. To help you choose plants to suit your garden's needs, concise descriptions of a wide range of trees, shrubs, roses, climbers, perennials, ground cover, bamboos, grasses, bulbs and annuals and biennials have been discussed on our gardening forum.


Principles of Planting
"Harmony" is perhaps the most important word in making a garden. You want somewhere that is relaxing but also stimulating to the senses, where art and nature have reached a happy equilibrium. Creating a balance between the different elements of a garden, such as the paving, lawn, trees, shrubs and flowers is crucial to the end result. Colour is an essential design element, but because flowers are relatively fleeting, it can be difficult to maintain interest all year long. The stronger the framework of the garden, with plenty of architectural plants, the less vital it will be to have flowers all year round.

Small gardens are especially difficult to plan. All plants are highly visible, so there is no room for the spectacular flowering plant that looks messy for the rest of the year. Good foliage and flowers with a long season are vital.


Creating a Structure
It is the larger or more upright plants that do most to develop the garden framework, dividing it into sections and serving as a guide as you walk or look round. Trees or shrubs with a narrow; vertical, columnar habit have lots of impact, but are useful in that they take up little space. Trees, under whose branches you can walk, hedges that act as green walls, or plants with strong shapes, all provide the visual bones for the garden. The softer, more formless shrubs and flowering perennials are the flesh. Some of the most successful gardens are those that balance the formality of clearly designed shapes, such as clipped hedges and topiary, with the informality of burgeoning borders of flowers and shrubs.


Year-Round Interest
Some gardeners are happy to have most of their garden flowering at once. They like to see a spring garden with lots of bulbs, or an early summer garden with roses and perennials, and they are happy to let ir rest for the remainder of the year. Most gardeners, though, prefer to attempt a long season of interest, which involves trying to interweave plants so that there is always something or some part, that looks good. A garden takes time to develop, and never stands still. Planning planting for the short, medium and long term helps avoid the great gaps that can try the patience of even the most dedicated. Trees, needless to say, are the most long term, often maturing long after we have gone. Shrubs, too, can take many years to look their best, which can mean that a garden is heavily reliant on them many take rather a while to develop. Herbaceous perennials look established with remarkable speed, whereas annuals fulfill their promise and disappear within a year. It makes good sense, then, to include all these different plant forms in a garden.