OUT IN THE GARDEN
Water, the Essential of Life
Watering under the eaves will need longer spells. Rainfall gives us an indication as to how plants like to be watered – normally a couple of days of rain followed by a non-rainy spell, and this is what plants like.
Good deep waterings followed by a few days without water suits containers and houseplants better than a daily light watering.
Try the Wetta Weeper Hoses, one of the most efficient ways to use water with it oozing out of the hundreds of tiny holes. We use them at home in the greenhouse and at the base of hedges.
If I was putting in a new garden I’d be tempted to put them right through the main borders.
Perfect Pumpkins
Pumpkins can be pretty expensive in the shops so think about growing them for Winter. No need to have a lot of room – just put in a few short stakes and wind the trailing growth around the stakes in a circle.
Cut off the growing ends once it gets too late for the last pumpkins to ripen. We have some well-established plants showing flowers and tiny fruit so you can get a good start.
Fun project for children/parents/grandparents – ready for carving names into later on.
Tracey’s Tip of the Week:
Avoid trimming your hedges in the middle of a hot sunny day and avoid burning - trim off the outside leaves and the inner leaves are exposed to strong sun and can burn. Note the newly trimmed tight Corokia hedge, recently trimmed by The Constant Gardener’s always-helpful husband.
Plants, like us, do get hungry so don’t hesitate to feed them regularly in the growing season.
Watering gives good growth but that does use up the plants’ reserves so replenish them where needed. We can give you specific advice on which food to use for which plants.
We feed Roses in September, November, January, and March to avoid the foliage ‘paling off’ and to boost an autumn flowering.
At home I use a lot of sheep pellets, Nitrophoska Blue for flower promotion and OceanFert as a tonic/fertiliser that encourages plant health and helps in the uptake of fertiliser.
The Monarch Butterflies are starting to appear and it really does pay to plant your Swan Plants now and get them to a good size well before those hungry caterpillars start chomping through the tasty leaves.
Stops having to come in regularly to buy new plants that will feed hungry caterpillars for only a few days.
Four Favourites for Christmas Colour
Red Verbena, red Petunias, white Petunias, white cascade Lobelia – plant in pots or in the flower bed for a vibrant welcoming Christmas look.
Got empty pots to fill for Christmas? There has never been such a great range of summer colour – check out the Super 6 packs and Flora Viva Instant Colour for an easy solution at sharp prices, and the normal bedding punnet range, with a good emphasis on red and white for a festive theme.
Bug netting works wonders at keeping the white butterflies and aphids off the vegetables. Just use some weedmat pegs to hold it down and keep the edges sealed against the predators. This will keep the plants pristine, protected, and not needing spraying.
Keep an eye out for Aphids when the sun finally appears on a regular basis. Mavrik, Nature’s Way, Naturally Neem, and Natural De-Bug (diatomaceous earth) are good natural alternatives for eco friendly insect problems. Mavrik and Success are both safe insecticides for edibles.
Thrips and mites start doing their damage now but that damage goes undetected until the symptoms are severe in several months’ time; thrips are particularly bad on Viburnums, Portuguese Laurels, and Rhododendrons and a regular spray with systemic Groventive or Mavrik will deal to them.
If you’re spraying Roses (which should be taking place every three weeks) then give the Viburnums etc, a quick spray at the same time. And an occasional fungicide spray on plants like Petunias will prevent mildew which springs up so easily in early Summer.
Hanging basket liners made easy – we have both the pre-formed coir basket liners plus rolls of coir fibre that you can cut to suit the basket, rolls of pre-cut liners etc. We keep them with the rolls of bug netting, wire netting etc. Just ask and we can cut it for you.
Always carry a pair of secateurs in your pocket (as Japanese gardeners do) at this time of year ready to cut back growth that is threatening to engulf a neighbouring plant – they can get swamped so easily and next thing they’re gone. Secateurs make a great Christmas present - come in and talk to Tracey about which is the most suitable brand and size for your needs.
Delphiniums should be hooped now before the tall spires of flowers get bent or snapped by the wind; hoops look so much more ‘user-friendly’ than the flowers strapped to stakes.
Weeds are like rust – ‘it never sleeps’. I find one of the most effective ways of dealing with weeds is to hoe them regularly while they’re small and leave them lying on the soil surface for the sun and wind to shrivel them up. We have a Lawnboy at work to hire out and an application of either Turfix or Turfclean will keep the lawn weed-free.
Tomatoes – remember to take out the laterals (the branches that come out at a 45degree angle between the main stem and the right-angle branches) and if you’re not sure we can show.
Keep a lookout for blight and insects both of which are easily dealt with – talk to Tracey about remedies.
And from now on they need regular feeding and the liquid Yates Thrive Tomato Food and Tom-a-Rite are both instant, effective, and easy. Remember that Cucurbits (cucumbers, courgettes, squash, gherkins, melons etc.) all like regular feeding and I find Tom-a-Rite also works well on them.
Snow peas, Sugar Snaps, and Garden Peas have all done really well this spring - maybe it's the cooler weather - just watch out for any mildew and if they develop that grey powdery look, FreeFlow Copper will sort it.
Garlic can also be subject to rust these days so use copper on them as well.