Saturday 29 March 2014

Friday 28th March 2014

Nigella

We talked about seed sowing today as now is the time to start sowing half hardy annuals.Hardy annuals like ammi, nigella, calendula, larkspur can be sown in Sept/Oct for the next year but can also be sown now in March/April. They will flower slightly later than autumn sown annuals. It is best to sow annuals in modular trays so you don't damage their roots when you are potting them on. You can use multi purpose compost just ensuring you take out any big bits of bark etc - use your fingers to make indents in the modules and put one or two seeds in each cell and cover with a little compost. Pot on into individual pots when there is sufficient growth as they will quickly run out of nutrients.Water with a can with a very fine rose or water from beneath - it can be helpful to use capillary matting in the tray to keep them damp.
Nicotiana
Half hardy annuals like cosmos, zinnias, nicotianas are frost tender and should only be planted out after mid May. They need a temperature of at least 10 degrees C to germinate so use a heated propagator or sow them inside but check them daily and keep them watered. It takes at least 6 weeks from sowing to being able to put them out and some grow more slowly then others, e.g.cosmos seeds grow very rapidly whilst nicotianas take a long time to germinate. Sow half hardy seeds in a seed tray - some seeds are very tiny so you can mix them with silver sand and sow very finely and cover with vermiculite before putting under glass or cling film. Prick out into small pots (F7s) using a dibber and holding the seedling by a leaf.

Book recommendations:
Annuals & Biennials by Roger Phillips and Martyn Rix
The Great Vegetable plot by Sarah Raven

Activities in the garden this week:

  • moving gooseberries and making raised vegetable bed
  • planting out peas from guttering and sowing mix of carrot and onion seeds 
  • tidying, weeding and planting out including planting broad beans among the alliums
  • finishing herb beds
  • more seed sowing of salad crops in gutters
  • continued work on the path





Planting out peas from the gutter


Sunday 23 March 2014

Friday 21st March 2014



We had some discussion about veg growing before venturing out into the garden. One suggestion for protecting seeds until they are established is to cover the seed drill  with a piece of guttering after sowing - this can help protect the seeds from cats, mice, birds etc. It is often difficult to grow carrots and parsnips on chalky soils so it is important to ensure the ground has been well raked over to a fine tilth before sowing , or grow shorter stumpier varieties of carrots/ parsnips. Another suggestion is to make a hole in the soil with a dibber and fill the hole with good quality compost and sow the seed into that. Suggested companion planting for carrots are coriander or onions as the strong smell of these plants helps protect against carrot fly. Carrot seeds could be mixed together with onion seeds and both sown together ( Ms Raven suggests using North Holland Blood Red onion seeds for this). Another suggestion from her is to plant broad beans in the valleys between the earthed up potatoes. Now is a good time to start beetroot off in modules and then transplant once the soil is warm enough and the plants are established.Calcified seaweed is good to add to vegetable beds and do consider crop rotation especially in allotments as this can avoid the build up off disease and improve yield.

Plant identification:

  • Chionadoxa - which means Glory of the snow in Greek They are easy to grow in well drained soil in grass or under shrubs. They also make a small focal point around the base of a tree and flower in Feb/March

Chionadoxa


  • Muscari or grape hyacinth. We looked at a special variety called Muscari macrocarpum 'Golden Fragrance' which is larger and has a lovely gardenia like scent, buds emerge as dusky purple turning to yellow
    Muscari macrocarpum 'Golden Fragrance'

  • Anenome blanda - which is a delicate blue anenome and can thrive in partial shade to full sun
    Anenome blanda

Activities in the garden this week:
  • Creating beds for veg, erecting a runner bean frame and planting carrots and beetroot
  • Tidying the yellow bed by the shed
  • Continuing the work on the path
  • Working underneath the arches to sort and clear
  • Working on the herb bed to cut back and plant

Saturday 15 March 2014

Friday 14th March 2014

A great effort from the Friday gardening group working to transform Ally's daughter Sam's garden. Everyone worked really hard to clear and dig over beds and cut back shrubs and trees. Karin and Elaine deserve special mention for their fantastic effort taking 2 huge sacks of cuttings to the tip!
















Saturday 8 March 2014

Friday 7th March 2014


Barnsley House gardens - home of Rosemary Verey
Julia read from Rosemary Verey's gardening diary about jobs to do in the garden in March. So many things to be getting on with now that spring seems to have arrived. The Garden House garden will be open on April 13th for the National Garden Scheme so lots of work to do in readiness for that.

We had a quick plant identification:
Primula veris

Narcissus Minnow

  • Saxifrage - great as an edging plant or to grow in an alpine collection. They need a well drained spot.
  • Narcissus 'Minnow' - a dwarf narcissi with lovely  scent and has a number of flowers on each stem
  • Leucojum vernum - spring snowflake, related to snowdrops and can be used in a rock garden, added to a moist border or naturalised in grass
  • Primula veris - cowslip - a semi evergreen perennial  favours a sheltered position in sun or semi shade. Good for edge of a woodland area.

Activities in the garden this week:

  • Pruning and feeding hybrid tea roses 
  • Planting aconitums and knifofia 
  • moving the cold frames to outside the greenhouse
  • establishing a fernery in top garden
  • sowing peas and herbs/ salad in guttering in greenhouse
  • potting on rosemary cuttings
  • continuing work on the path


Sue and Vicky continue with their path work
    Julia and Karin planting mint collection in the tanks
    Aniseed at the Friday group

Saturday 1 March 2014

Friday 28th February




An unexpectedly dry and warm Friday morning so we spent as much time as possible getting on with jobs in the garden.
Nanette completes her bottle edging


We did have some discussion about feeding plants as we had some lovely compost delivered to the garden. There has been so much rain recently that it is good to try and enrich the soil and provide more nutrients to the soil to help the plants with their spring growth.
There are three main plant foods - nitrogen, phosphorus and potash and any fertilizer will primarily provide these in various proportions. Bridge suggests keeping it simple -  it is good to focus on adding manure and compost to the soil to bulk it up,enable the soil to hold moisture as well as adding essential nutrients.
Nitrogen is the most essential plant nutrient and is responsible for green growth and is created almost entirely by decaying organic matter and is provided by adding compost or manure.
Phosphorus supplies phosphates to the plants which they need to develop strong roots and to promote germination.
Potassium in the form of potash is essential for all plants but particularly for fruiting crops. Potash is released from compost and wood ash, comfrey and seaweed are good sources of potassium.
Seaweed can be bought as a liquid feed and is good for feeding plants in pots. Chicken pellets provide essential nutrients and should be added to the soil when planting.

 Activities in the garden this week:

  • setting mosaic tile in the lawn
  • pruning the cox's apple tree in the corner of the garden behind the shed
  • planting a new mint collection in the tanks 
  • feeding auriculas with liquid seaweed
  • potting on hardy annuals and feeding them
  • working in top garden - adding compost and planting
  • making obelisk for broad beans to grow up
  • continuing the path work by compost bins
  • pruning the honeysuckles
  • hoeing the borders
  • painting the bench
  • planting hellebores and pulmonarias

Ruth on apple tree pruning
Susan hoeing the large border



Ally watering in