Your Garden

nce again we welcome in a New Year, and let us hope that it will be more peaceful than the last one. As far as the weather is concerned January is regarded as a time for snow and hard frosts. In recent years of course we haven’t had much snow, but it is still something to be wary of. Although a heavy fall will protect lots of little plants growing underneath, it can do a lot of damage to conifers. On some days this month gardening is impossible, but there will be the occasional day when we can get out and about.

Ø Keep an eye on your cold frame, removing any garden pests that are attempting to spend the winter there, and put a cover over if a hard frost is expected. Keep your pond ice free, and the garden borders tidy. I prefer to leave fallen leaves on the ground, where they can be dragged down by earthworms. Keep an eye out though, because leaves can also form a shelter for hibernating garden pests. Leaves lying on a lawn should be removed regularly.

Ø If you grow rhubarb, you will soon be thinking of upending a bucket over a crown or two, to force an earlier crop. There is something else you can try. Before the rhubarb shows any sign of growth, dig up a few crowns complete with roots, and leave them on the surface for a week or two, and then replant them. They will get frosted, which, according to members of at least three generations of my family, will greatly improve the flavour of the rhubarb.

Ø If you are over-wintering dahlias or chrysanthemums, you can start them into growth this month. Mid-month onwards should be suitable, but do watch temperatures. Dahlias need a temperature of 60F (16C), but chrysanthemums will be happy with around 45F (7C). Put the plants into trays of moist peat or potting compost. Keep the trays moist, but do not allow the compost to become too wet. As the young shoots reach about 2 inches (2.5cm.) long, they can be taken as cuttings.

Ø From mid-month onwards you can think about sowing seeds of pelargoniums and begonias, with petunias and antirrhinums towards the end of the month. This timing is in no way critical; you can leave it until next month if you prefer. Remember that it is expensive to heat a greenhouse just for a few pots of seeds. You should manage very well on a windowsill indoors, but again, you need to watch the temperatures. A simple alternative of course is to buy the plants as seedlings in two or three month’s time, although by then a greenhouse can be full of other things!

Ø If you are thinking of putting in some climbing plants, conditions are not likely to be suitable for planting, but this is a good time to prepare trellis, or whatever, for the plants to climb up. Trellis is fairly expensive to buy, so be sure to treat it with preservative before you erect it. If you are handy with tools it is cheaper to make your own trellis, although time consuming. Mind you. in January you should find plenty of time!

Ø And finally, towards the end of the month, try potting up some lilies. Use a deep pot, and plant the bulbs near the bottom, covering them with about two inches (5cm) of compost. Add more compost gradually as the plants grow. Keep the pots in a cold frame or a cool greenhouse. When the weather improves, you can either plant them out in the garden, or let them flower in their pots.

Enjoy your garden Garden Gnome

Rounded Rectangular Callout: Happy New Year to Everyone

uring the month of February, the weather tends to change very quickly, alternating between frosts and mild periods, so don’t rush into a lengthy job without considering the possible effect the weather might have on it. Even if you are worried about falling behind, remember that it is still early in the year, and there is plenty of time to catch up. Nature seems to have a wonderful knack of playing catch-up. If you can’t get into the garden, console yourself with the fact that the slugs and snails are having a rough time of things!

Ø If you intend to sow vegetable seeds outdoor in the early part of the year, try warming up the soil by pegging a sheet of polythene over the appropriate section of the ground about two or three weeks in advance of sowing. Start the sowing with early peas, broad beans and shallots, following later with onions, parsley, and parsnips. Use a sheltered part of the garden if possible.

Ø If you have a warm greenhouse, or a warm bedroom windowsill with good light, you can sow french beans, shorthorn carrots, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, lettuce and leeks. You can also sow a variety of flower seeds, including antirrhinums, lobelia, and sweet peas. Remember that all of these will need pricking out into boxes in due course – you might need another warm light windowsill!

Ø Rounded Rectangular Callout: His Hostas are slow in coming ! Gardeners with a heated greenhouse will no doubt have better facilities for these operations, but they will also be starting into growth dahlias, chrysanths, and fuchsias, in order to take cuttings later on. I think most gardeners prefer to take cuttings to make new plants each year, rather than to grow on the old ones which tend to get leggy. You can sometimes improve old fuchsias by cutting them back severely at this time, then repotting them in new compost ( John Innes 2 or 3)

Ø Plants that have been overwintering in a cold frame will be starting into growth, but the new shoots will be tender and need protection against the sharp frosts so common this month. Keep protection handy so that the cold frame can be covered at short notice!

Ø Take a little time to examine the shrubs in your garden. This is a good time to reposition shrubs and garden perennials. Those that are too spreading can be lifted and divided. Replant the healthy younger outside shoots, discarding the old hard middle. If you have not already done so, mulch those shrubs whose new shoots have not yet emerged. Dogwoods, whose brightly coloured stems will have been giving you pleasure all winter, can now be cut back hard, to the ground. If you have not done this for a year or two (or three), I suggest you cut back only half this year, and finish the job next year. If you have a wisteria, you will have shortened the side shoots last summer. Now you can finish the job by pruning back the sideshoots to about 1 inch (2.54cm.) This is also the time to think about pruning summer flowering clematis, also clematis tangutica. They should be cut back hard.

Ø You can continue to plant lilies in pots. I suggest five of the same variety in each 10-inch pot. I gave you detailed instructions last month. Also try sowing anemones in pots for early display outside in March and April. Before planting, soak the dry tubers in water for 24 hours.

Ø And finally, if birds usually attack your spring flowers, try spreading black cotton between pegs, to act as a deterrent. Get the cotton in place before the flowers open.

Enjoy your garden

Garden Gnome

Rounded Rectangular Callout: Have a bit of patience

ith February out of the way we can take comfort that Spring will not be far behind. All in all we haven’t had a bad winter from a gardening point of view. We have been warned that we can expect hotter Summers and wetter Winters, and certainly all our water butts are full! During the Winter we have had the unusual pleasure of seeing some flowers in bloom, including several which really had no right to be blooming at all. The amount of rain which fell means that we must not be in too much of a hurry to tramp around the garden. Working on wet ground at this time of year will do more harm than good

Ø If your lawn is not waterlogged, now is the time to give it a good raking to remove thatch, using a spring-tined rake. You will find it easier to remove perennial weeds by hand whilst the ground is soft. Alternatively you can use a selective weedkiller on them. So long as there is no frost about, you can give the lawn its first cut of the season. Set the mower blades as high as possible for this first cut. After cutting you can give a dressing of spring-formulated lawn fertiliser

Ø If you are planning to grow dahlias this year, choose a sunny site and dig it over this month, removing any perennial weeds and digging in plenty of compost or FYM if you can get it, particularly if you have a light soil. You can plant out the tubers at the end of this month, or early next if the weather is cold. Alternatively of course you can plant up the tubers into trays or boxes now and put them into the greenhouse with a little warmth. When the tubers have sprung into growth you can take cuttings, planting them out at the end of May or early June.

Ø Buddleias, beloved by butterflies, should be pruned back now to within a few inches of the ground, and to a nice pair of fat buds, removing any thin or dead shoots completely. Also dogwoods that have delighted us with the winter colour of their stems should be cut back to ground level, if you have not already done so. It is the new stems, which grow during the summer that will provide the vivid colours next winter. If, like me, you leave old flower heads on your hydrangeas to give protection, now is the time to remove them. Cut the stems back to a pair of fat buds. Also santalinas should be trimmed back to avoid them becoming leggy.

Ø Gladioli, which like plenty of moisture, can be planted this month or next or even early May. Make a planting hole about four inches deep and put a layer of sand in the bottom. Put in the corms about six inches apart and sprinkle some bonemeal around before replacing the soil.

Ø Hybrid tea roses should be pruned this month. The fashion used to be to prune them hard, but this is only really required if you intend to exhibit them. If you prune less hard you will get somewhat smaller flowers but many more of them Always prune back to just above a bud, and remove any dead or straggly shoots.

Ø Vegetables can be started off this month, but only if the weather is open. Start with onion sets and shallots, and follow with Brussels sprouts, summer cabbage and leeks. The latter three are usually sown in short rows and transplanted to their final positions in late April or May. The seed packets will give you full details. Seeds that can be sown where they are to crop include broad beans, carrots and parsnips. Broad beans are usually sown about one inch deep in a double row eight inches apart. Sow carrots and parsnips in single rows, and thin them out as they grow.

And finally, don’t be in a hurry. At this time in the garden, the weather is more important than the calendar. Enjoy your garden

Garden Gnome

his month is usually a very busy time in the garden. Care taken with work done now can have a considerable effect upon your garden for several months to come. So don’t rush things just because the gardening books suggest lots of things for you to do. Hasten slowly! And remember April showers can make the ground very wet - keep out of your garden if it is waterlogged. Here are a few of my suggestions for you to consider.

Ø The flower garden. Hardy annuals are usually sown where they are to grow, and this month you can try calendulas, cornflowers, lavatera, love in a mist, and clarkia. There are plenty of others, so have a browse round the seed packets at your garden centre or nursery. The packets will also give you full cultural details. If you didn’t find the opportunity in March, there is still time to divide up perennials such as hostas, chrysanthemums, geraniums (no, I do not mean pelargoniums!) and astrantias. Always discard the old centres, and use the new growth round the outside. If you have a large clump of snowdrops – the flowers will probably be dying down by now – you can divide them up if you wish to do so. In a few years you will have an even bigger clump! Deadhead winter flowering pansies and primroses as the flowers fade. Also deadhead daffodils but allow the leaves to die down naturally (don’t tie them together or in knots). All your spring-flowering bulbs will appreciate a dressing of bonemeal, about a handful round each plant will be fine.

Ø The vegetable garden. You can sow broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, peas, spinach, Brussels sprouts and cabbage. preferably in straight rows, so that you can see which is which when the weeds start to grow. You can also sow lettuce, but it is usual to sow a pinch or two of seed at fortnightly intervals. This is supposed to give you a succession crop instead of having hundreds ready at once, but it is surprising how the later sown lettuce catch up with the others! Also if you transplant lettuce they tend to bolt (run to seed). Carrots are best sown sparsely, to avoid too much thinning out, which disturbs the soil and thus encourages carrot root fly.

Ø Flowering shrubs. After flowering, berberis, forsythia and winter-flowering jasmine should be pruned to allow new shoots to grow from the base. Up to 1/3 of forsythia shoots can be pruned right back to avoid overcrowding. Camellias seem to have done well this year, despite the loss of a few flowers to the hard frosts of late Feb/early March. Camellias prefer an acid soil, and appreciate an occasional feed with a specialist food such as Miracid. Your herbaceous perennials will appreciate a top dressing of a general fertiliser such as Growmore, fish blood and bone, or the relatively new pelletted chicken manure. There is still time to divide up your herbaceous perennials if you wish.

Ø Greenhouse. If you grow your own bedding plants your greenhouse will now be pretty full of half-hardy seedlings which will stay there until the end of May, at least. If you intend to grow a summer greenhouse crop of tomatoes, you can sow seed now, although you may find it easier to buy a few young plants at the nursery, especially if you only want half a dozen or so. There are plenty of varieties to choose from, My wife and I happen to like Alicante and Moneymaker, or for growing outside, Shirley. Don’t put plants outside until the end of May. If you intend to use growbags, buy them now, but beware of any that seem to be very cheap. They just might be some left over from last season and the fertiliser inside will have lost its potency.

Ø And finally, don’t forget to clean out your pond. The oxygenators will need cutting back and also perhaps some of the other plants. Try not to disturb things too much, especially if you have frogspawn or tadpoles around. They are not as easy to see as the fish!

Enjoy your garden Garden Gnome