Garden notes for February 2025

As the days start to draw out, and it does not seem so gloomy the urge to get plants started is almost irresistible. Any seedbeds that have been protected under cloches or garden fleece can be started to be sown with hardy vegetables such as parsnips. You can also start to consider sowing some early cabbage and brussel sprouts. Divide and replant chives towards the end of the month.

Soil is the foundation for all plants in the garden and spending time in its preparation will bring considerable rewards. Ground that is going to be used for root crops like carrots, turnips, potato and radish should have a pH of about 7 (neutral). General fertiliser such as Growmore, or an organic alternative, should be raked in a few weeks before sowing at a rate of about 3-4 ounces per square yard.

Dahlia tubers should be started in gentle heat towards the end of the month for most of us. The keen exhibitors who want to have blooms for the Summer Show (21st August this year) may want to spend the extra time and money starting them as early as possible.

Plants to prune this month include winter flowering jasmine, and towards the end of the month all the dogwoods.

Trim back winter flowering heathers as the blooms fade, with shears to prevent them from getting overgrown and straggly. Towards the end of the month, prune buddeleia. It pays to be quite severe, cutting back all last year’s growth to just 3 or 4 buds. The result will be vigorous new stems and fine flower spikes in the summer for the butterflies to enjoy as well as you.

Now is the time to bring the stools of outdoor chrysthantemums into the greenhouse and give them a little warmth and all the light possible so that they make sturdy cuttings. Towards the middle of the month start dahlia tubers off in gentle warmth.

Do not forget your garden machinery. Look over mowers, hedge trimmers and so on. Make sure that they are ready for the onslaught when the grass and the hedges start to burst into life again. If you are like me, and not very good with machinery it is best to get them serviced by a reliable supplier. As the saying goes, ‘Look after your tools, and they will look after you’.

Most of the garden centres will be selling fuchsia cuttings, and this is a good way to get the plants you want as they can be brought on in the greenhouse without much heat, although they must be kept frost free.

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Quiz Night and Supper

Saturday 8 March 2025
6.30 for 7 pm
Capel Village Memorial Hall

Our ever-popular quiz night and delicious supper is set to return.  

Teams of 6 will be testing their general knowledge (don’t worry there will not be an abundance of horticultural questions!) against one another.  Every year we sell out so do please book early to avoid disappointment.  

Pies are the order of the night!  Make your menu choice below:

• Highland Beef Pie or
• Coq au Vin Pie or
• Crumble Topped Veggie Pie
• All served with new potatoes and petit pois

Followed by:

• New York Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis, or
• Meringue Roulade, or
• Cheeseboard

Finishing with:

• Tea, coffee and mints

All this for just £17.00 per person.  Please remember there is no bar facility so you will need to bring your own beer/wine and glasses.

Bookings should be for tables of 6 people and once your menu choice has been made, to avoid disappointment, do please stick with it.  To make your booking call 01306 711259 or email here as soon as possible.

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We have an exciting Group Competition planned for 2025’s Summer Show!

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Garden Notes for January 2025.

After the haze of all the Christmas and New Year jollifications, the good gardener starts to look ahead. Even though the garden is asleep, it is surprising just how soon it starts to burst with life. So, think about what was successful last year and what might be a good idea to experiment with this year. How about growing a blend of salad leaves, like the ones seen in every supermarket. They can be grown, with a little bit of heat to start them off, in the early spring, don’t take up much room and are very healthy.

This is the time of year when houseplants are most appreciated. Azaleas, cineraria and cyclamen will all help to cheer things up. Do not over water, and most of these plants like cool conditions.

When your seeds arrive from the supplier keep them in a cool dry place until required. Protect pea seeds in particular because mice love them, and they have already got into our garden shed where they have started on anything that they can reach. Remember paper is no barrier to sharp teeth, and makes lovely nesting material.

Rhubarb can be forced using an upturned bucket or tub. This should be covered with garden fleece to keep off any frost. Another tip is to slice off a bit of the main root, leave it exposed for 2 or 3 frosts and then pot it up and move it into a cool greenhouse. This will make it start to produce some tender sticks of rhubarb for you to enjoy in March.

When seed potatoes arrive, keep them in a frost-free place and stand the tubers, eye-end uppermost, in shallow boxes. If you can get large egg trays these are ideal for keeping the tubers upright and just separated to prevent any infection spreading.

Remember, even if we do get a few mild days towards the end of the month that any seeds that are sown need a constant temperature to start them off, at least 8 to 10 degrees Centigrade, so do not be tempted to sow outdoors, as temperatures drop well below these levels at night time, even when it is mild.

To get the best onions for the Summer Show (Saturday August 16 2025, this year – make a note!) apart from starting the first sowings this month, you should give a good dressing of wood ash on the site of the bed that you will use, since they really like potash. For the keen gardener, sow your onion seeds as early as possible in good compost on a propagator to get them started.

Towards the middle of the month, start to make preparations for taking chrysanthemum cuttings. If you have a cold frame make sure it is ready and make up the necessary soil. A good mixture is two parts loam, one part peat, and one part sand to ensure good drainage. Any pots or boxes should be cleaned and the chrysanthemum stools brought in to start them growing sturdy cuttings.

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Garden Notes for December 2024.

What a wonderful autumn display of colours by the trees in November! Better than any firework display, in my view. Of course it is all down to the weather we have had previously. Now the plants have their winter ‘sleep’, and it is probably best to let them lie in peace. However there are a number of things you can do, as ever – a Gardener’s work is never done.

Large flowered clematis, like Clematis jackmanii and the many hybrids from it, should be pruned towards the end of the month. They can be cut back quite severely. Prune back to good, well developed buds.

Seeds of helleborus, hosta and primula can be sown in December and January. Use John Innes No.1 compost (or similar) covering the seed with a thin layer of compost. After watering them in, place the seed container against a North wall or in a cold frame making sure that they are protected from mice. Leave them there until the spring. Then bring them into a greenhouse, on a well lit, but not sunny place, and germination should then take place.

If you are planning to sow hardy annuals in the spring, they will benefit from giving the soil in the place they will go to an early preparation. So long as the soil is in reasonably good heart it is best not to put any fertiliser, since annuals do best in a soil that is not too rich.

When picking Brussels sprouts keep the tops, and only use the best when all the sprouts have been harvested. Some of the winter broccoli may be starting to form their curds. Turn in the leaves to protect the curd from frost, and cut regularly as once they have reached their full development the curds soon begin to open and will spoil.

In order to have some early shoots of mint, now is the time to lift a few roots and put them in a fairly deep seed box and cover with potting soil. Put it in a frame or the greenhouse, and you will have nice shoots in a few weeks, when everything else is still asleep in the garden.

If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse vine, they should be pruned towards the end of the month. All side-growths should be cut back to two buds. The spurs carrying these shortened growths should be well spaced apart, at least 40 to 50 cm apart on the main rod so that overcrowding in summer is minimised.

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Garden Notes for November 2024.

All apple and pear trees should be pruned this month. Try to form the tree into a ‘wine glass’ shape to allow maximum light into the centre. Remember to long prune tip bearing varieties. Generally cut back ‘leaders’ by about one-third and prune back side growth.

Now is the time to plant bare root roses. There are masses of roses to choose from, but you should find a suitable variety that has been bred by David Austin to suit most gardens. He is the worthy successor to Harry Wheatcroft.

It is not too late to be planting tulips in November, but do it earlier rather than later in the month. If you have a sheltered and well drained plot, now is the time to sow winter broad beans such as Aquadulce. Early broad beans often escape the blackfly attacks on the growth tips of the plant in spring.

If the weather continues to be mild, grass will still be growing, so mow it as necessary as long as the ground is not sodden or frozen. When you have finished, make sure that the mower is cleaned, drain the petrol and store it in a dry place. Ensure that it has an annual service so that it is ready for all the work in the Spring. Clean greenhouses and conservatories with a suitable cleaning agent such as Agralan Citrox.

If you are planning to have a show of hippeastrum (more commonly known as ‘amarylis’), now is the time to pot these large bulbs so that the neck is above the level of the compost (otherwise it will rot and die). The pot should not be more than 2.5cm wider than the bulb itself as they like to be fairly crowded. Remember to stop watering cacti and succulents, except the Christmas cacti, until March next year. Roots of outdoor chrysanthemums should labelled, lifted and put in a cold frame for the winter. If a cold frame is not available they can be kept under the shelter of a wall and protected with garden fleece.

Hardy peas like ‘Feltham First’, ‘Meteor’ and the mangetout ‘Oregon Sugar Pod’ can be sown in an unheated greenhouse in pots so that you can enjoy an early crop next June. Sow broad beans outside in a sunny, free-draining spot.

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