IN THE GARDEN - 12 SEPTEMBER 2024

Daltons Nutrient-Enriched Compost.   Perfect time to top up with some rapid-result mix to boost growth. 

Organic matter and nutrients to stimulate microorganism activity and improve moisture retention in dry spells, while conditioning the soil and stabilising PH levels.

As Roses and Perennials haven’t reached their full summer size yet, spread as much compost as you can find room for. 

You’ll improve the soil texture and fertility, but compost also improves the drainage, aeration, and the earthworm population.

 

 Feed, Feed, Feed!

From now on I’ll be doing the rounds of the trees, shrubbery, and flower garden (esp Roses) and giving everything a good feed using a mix of OceanFert (great for plant health) and Nitro Blue (good levels of potash for flowering) plus Dave’s Growth Booster Pellets (sheep manure + southern humates).     

                       

Plus Rooster Booster (great fertiliser and soil conditioner) on the rhubarb and garlic, and an extra dose of sheep pellets on the roses and sweet peas.   All our fruit trees and berry fruits at home are being fed with the new iCan Fruit Food which is suitable for all fruit types.

 

 

Scented Sweet Peas.  One of the easiest plants to grow from seed, any time now is a good time to plant, and we have a good range in stock. And several varieties of sweet pea plants as well; they love plenty of animal manure so dig in sheep pellets before planting. The more you pick sweet peas the better they keep flowering (left to form seed pods their energy will be taken away from producing new flowers) and regular feeding will maintain that flowering. Probably one of the most popular scents in spring and summer.

 

 Beans.  Dwarf beans and runner beans need warm soil temperatures to germinate easily so plant them only in the right spot, but broad beans are much hardier and The Constant Gardener is sowing ours at home now she’s back to the vegetable garden.   

We find that they do better sown now than in the autumn and wintering over – they’ll just be a slightly later crop.                                                                             

It’s important to pick broad beans when they’re young to get that delicious flavour – pick them too big and they can be floury (is that a word?)                           

Try putting them in a potato salad with a few finely chopped gherkins and a few bits of bacon, and you’ll know what I mean about flavour. 

 

Our range gets better and bigger every week and while the temperatures aren’t conducive to putting them out into the garden without protection, we’re selling lots to go into greenhouses or sheltered areas.                                        

The Lettuce bench is one of our busiest departments in the Seedling/Bedding area.

Courgettes can be planted straight out into the garden if you cover them at night to protect from frost, or grow them on in pots in a frost-free place for planting out later; we’ll be growing ours in pots in the greenhouse to start with.

Frost Control – we’re still getting hard frosts at home regularly so The Constant Gardener has covered our mini Patio Standard Peaches and Nectarines with frost cloth every night as they’re covered in blossom.

We also use the wire netting cloches at home a lot, particularly the plastic-covered option, both as a frost protection and as a protection for new seedlings/seeds against birds – plenty in stock.

 

Slug & Snail Alert!  Despite the frozen temperatures the slugs and snails are out and about in force so put slug bait down to stop the damage to tender new growth (delphiniums’ new growth is particularly susceptible to snail damage).

 

Want your favourite fruit tree but haven’t got room for a full-sized tree? We have the solution with our Evergrow Mesh Bags which restrict the growth of larger roots but allow the finer feeding roots to develop along the outside of the bag. This will give you full fruit production but a smaller tree, and the bags can be used above or below ground. Below ground will be easier for watering purposes.

 

Soil preparation before planting – success is guaranteed with just a bit of preparation and we suggest the following:  dig in good quality compost and iCan Real Blood & Bone which is double the strength of ordinary blood and bone because the blood hasn’t been removed (normally the blood is extracted to turn into dried blood).  Most vegetables are leafy greens of one sort or another so high nitrogen fertilisers are best and Dave’s Growth Booster Pellets provide exactly that – use them as a side dressing after planting.

 

 Running into problems with buxus blight? This manifests itself as dead/’burnt’/dieback patches on the buxus foliage and Grosafe have a spray to combat it in their Planthealth range – Buxus Blight Buster which is a systemic fungicide.

Plum Luisa. Highly recommended, semi-freestone, self-fertile, good disease resistance, bumper crops. Heart shaped fruit with yellow/red skin with delicious yellow aromatic flesh.