The pace of gardening really hots up in June, but it is still necessary to keep an eye on what the weather holds in store for us.  Evening temperatures should be high enough in June but keep an eye out for the younger plants if rain does not arrive fairly soon.

Frost susceptible, fast growing plants like dahlias, courgettes and so on should be put into their final homes assuming that there is no ground frost forecast.  If it has been very dry, make sure that they have a good drink before and after planting them out.  But don’t water them all the time.  Give the roots time to settle down and then water (if necessary, and allowed) about once a week with a thorough soaking, preferably in the evening or early morning before the sun has got its full power switched on.

Hedges need regular attention now, and should be kept in shape; otherwise they can so easily get away from you making the task so much more difficult.  Grass needs to be mown, but keep the cutter bar on a high level and the lawn will look greener for much longer.  Do not put sprinklers on lawns, even if they do turn a dusty brown, as soon as the rain comes back they will recover with surprising speed.  If you do water the lawn you are wasting a precious resource to no real effect.

In the vegetable plot, make sure potatoes are kept ridged up; otherwise the tubers get exposed and ruined.  Late Savoy cabbage can be sown now – use a variety like ‘Ormskirk’.  Winter cabbage like January King should be planted out now.  Leeks should be planted out using a dibber to make a hole about 6 to 8” deep, and then water it in well.

Continue to make successional sowings of lettuce.  Ones like ‘Tom Thumb’ ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Mini Green’ are fast growing, and the right size for many people.  Webbs Wonderful is superb but rather large.

Early tomatoes should be ripening fast and the fruits should be picked regularly.

Roses are at their best towards the end of the month.  It helps to keep them cut regularly and feed with a potash feed to keep them blooming longer.  If you want to have specimen blooms it is advised to take out the side shoots carefully, as well as the smaller buds, leaving just one strong one at the end of the stem.  Keep an eye out for pests and disease.  Keep mildew at bay by regular spraying.

Suckers that sprout up from the base of damson and plum trees can become troublesome unless dealt with early on, so dig them out and burn the resulting twigs.

As alpine plants finish flowering, trim them back to keep the plants neat and compact.  It will also encourage them to make good growth for next spring.  Any gaps or vacant spots in the rock garden can be planted with summer flowering annuals or bedding plants to maintain the overall colour.  Towards the end of the month cuttings can be taken from the alpine stock to increase the number of plants.  Root the cuttings in a sandy compost.

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Garden Notes for April 2024.

The frosts this winter have taken their toll of many shrubs, so take a careful look around and prune out any obviously dead growth. Silver leafed shrubs such as lavender, sage and santolina should be cut to within 5cm – 10cm of the ground, once new growth is visible at the base. On old woody bits, it is better to go easy and cut back to last year’s growth. Generally speaking, spring flowering shrubs like forsythia, winter jasmine and flowering currant should be pruned after they have flowered.

Sow hardy annuals such as marigold, nigella, candytuft, cornflower and nasturtium direct in their prepared beds. Sunflowers can be started too. Sow 15cm (6”) apart for a crop of long stemmed flowers. Sow them further apart (about 30cm) if you want a succession of flowers on shorter side shoots.

Pinch out the growing tips of coleus, fuchsias, pelargonium and petunia to encourage bushy growth. Leave a can of water in the greenhouse to warm up before you water, this will reduce plants getting a shock from icy cold water. If you are sowing fine seeds (like nicotinia) – water the compost first. This avoids washing the seed deep into it.

Now is the time to cut off the flowers of hydrangeas that have been left on for winter protection. Shorten any thin of old shoots of H. macrophylla (mopheads or lacecaps) to their lowest bud. To get large flowers on H. paniculata cut the main branches to within two buds of their base.

Divide chives or mint if they are crowded (dispose of the roots carefully, they are invasive). You should finish planting main crop potatoes, and earth up any early growth. Frost is still a clear and present danger!

In unheated greenhouses sow Brussels sprouts, calabrese, summer cauliflower, kale and lettuce. In outdoor beds you can sow broad bean, beetroot, early carrots, chard, kohl rabi, parsnips, peas, radish, spinach, spring onion and turnips. Plant out onion sets. Peas can be started in a length of guttering in the greenhouse. When the seedlings are ready to go out, the compost will be held together by their roots and the whole row can then be slid into position.

Remember to pot on any rooted cuttings as they develop, don’t let them become pot-bound.

The Capel Horticultural Society Plant Sale will be held on Saturday 11th May in the Village Hall starting at 10 a.m. This will provide an opportunity to get well grown bedding plants, shrubs and even vegetables for the summer season at competitive prices. So make a note and be sure to turn up promptly as all sales are on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Garden notes for March 2024

Snowdrops that have stopped blooming should be lifted and divided as soon as possible. Unlike other bulbs they should be multiplied whilst their leaves are still green. It is a good idea to do this at least once every 3 or 4 years as the bulbs may become too closely packed together to give a good show the following year if it is not done.

In order to give the best germination of any seeds that you want to start, make sure that the soil, or seed compost, you use is as warm as possible. So put out cloches over the area in the garden where you intend to start early crops. Do this at least a week or so before sowing in order to warm the ground. Equally, if you are using a seed compost such as John Innes No.1, bring it in to a shed or greenhouse before making up the pots or seed trays so that it has been thoroughly warmed through. Most seeds need a soil temperature of at least 10ºC (50ºF), and do better if it is about 15ºC. This is a very general rule of thumb, and there are many differences for different species, but it is true for a lot of the plants we grow.

Watch out for drying winds and days that are sunny in March and try to get on the garden as soon as possible after that, because it is almost certain that rain will follow and you will not be able to do anything. It is all very well to give this advice for those who are able to follow the weather, but very difficult for the weekend gardener! Our clay is a very fertile medium if you can manage it properly. Over time the addition of humus from garden compost, farmyard manure and so on will help but it is a long term and continuing process.

Towards the middle or end of March, depending on the outdoor temperature, you should prune roses. If you want large blooms, prune severely, cutting all strong young growths back to 3 or 4 buds from where growth started last spring. For general garden purposes leave 5 or 6 buds. This allows for re-growth should any late frosts nip off the earliest growth.

Make sure that your garden mowing equipment is serviced and ready for use as the weather improves and the grass starts to get back to growing.

Sweet peas that have been growing in pots should be hardened off for planting out in April.

Dahlia tubers should be started off in gentle heat to get the shoots that will form the plants for growing on.

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Garden notes for February 2024

This year is a leap year so we have an extra 24 hours this month to get the garden going! 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.

Dahlia tubers should be started in gentle heat towards the end of the month for most of us. Remember your house-plants on cold, frosty night. Keep them on the room side, not behind the curtain. Plants are most likely to die from drastic temperature changes between a heated room in the day and a frosty sill at night.

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

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.

Chrysanthemum stools that you brought in under a cold frame in January should be making good growth and cuttings should be taken to be potted on. Watch out for greenfly and the dreaded whitefly that can also hatch out with slightly warmer days. Use a drenching of ‘Provera’ (made by Bio) as a precaution. Provera should also be used for lilies to keep the lily beetle under control. It is also useful for indoor plants to stop the fruit fly hatching out.

Towards the end of February, start of March, bush roses should be pruned. Use sharp secateurs. Cuts should not be more than 5mm above a bud, and should slope away from it. Prune die-back to healthy wood. Remove all dead, diseased stems and burn them. Trace suckers back to the roots from which they are growing and pull them away. Always wear protective gloves, the scratches from rose thorns can be nasty.

That reminds me, everyone, but especially all gardeners, should make sure that they keep their tetanus inoculation up-to-date. It should be done at least once every 10 years. It is available on the NHS and it really is important to be safe rather than sorry.

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Garden Notes for January 2024.

January is a good time to plan ahead. The short days and inclement weather mean that it is difficult to do a great deal but it need not stop you from going out and having a good look around and seeing how it will all develop in the coming season.

At the first opportunity when the lawn surface is reasonably dry, sweep it with a birch besom so as to scatter the worm cast and to remove dead grass.

Look carefully at trees, shrubs and roses planted during the autumn and if they have been loosened by wind or frost, re-firm them thoroughly.

Clear away the stems and roots of savoy and other green crops that have finished and push on with the winter cultivation whenever this is possible.

Sow onion seed under cover for early crops. Preparation of the seed bed for onions that will be planted out in March will always encourage good growth. Onions appreciate wood ash, so sprinkle the ash from your log fires (not coal fires) over the area where the onions are to grow, and lightly prick it into the soil to make sure it is well incorporated.

If you have a greenhouse, consider some early salad crops that can be raised with a little gentle heat to get them started. When seed potatoes are available keep them in a place where there is no danger of frost penetrating, and stand the tubers eye-ends uppermost in shallow boxes to begin the sprouting process. Old egg trays or boxes are a good way of providing the right support and separation required.

Towards the end of January prune fuchsias. Cut back all side growth hard, to about 2 mm from the stem.

Herbs, like sage and thyme, can be replanted in the last week of January. Large clumps can be pulled apart into smaller pieces, keep the roots attached. If the frost has killed any of the top growth of the sage, it can be pruned back and new growth will develop later.

Azaleas can be increased by the technique known as ‘layering’ in January. Choose branches of last year’s growth that can be easily bent down to soil level. Then make a slit halfway through the branch on the lower side where it touches the soil. Peg it firmly into the ground in a mixture of peat and sand.

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Garden Notes for December 2023.

If you have root crops in the ground (such as carrots or parsnips), put some straw down before the frosts take too strong a hold. This will help stop the ground freezing and allow them to be lifted whatever the weather.

Keep up good hygiene. Clear crops that are past their best and start digging the ground, so long as it is workable.

It does help to know the soil pH in your garden. There are simple test kits available from garden centres. If the patch you are testing proves to be acidic (a pH that is lower than 7.0), then use lime where you intend to plant any of the brassica crops such as cabbages, cauliflower, or Brussel sprouts, this will reduce the chance of infection from club-root. It is recommended that you should take an average of three readings.

Onion seed should be sown as soon after Christmas is over. Ideally they should be sown in seed boxes under cover in the greenhouse, but failing this they can be sown direct in cold frames, so long as they are kept frost-free. Shallots can be planted even earlier, just after December 21st, direct into the soil – so long as the conditions are suitable (i.e. frost-free and not into sodden ground).

If you order your seeds and onion sets, potatoes and flower seed before the end of December, many of the seeds companies offer a discount for early ordering. Also it helps you get the pick of the seeds as many of the most popular items, or rarer types may be sold out if you leave it too late

Some of the earliest bulbs can be brought into the greenhouse. Bring in a few at a time so that a succession is maintained as far into the spring as possible.

Apply sulphate of potash around fruit trees at a rate of 1 oz per square yard. Keep an eye out for slug and snail attacks on plants if the weather turns mild. It is worth putting cinders or some sharp sand round the crown of delphiniums to stop these pests making their damaging attacks.

I have discovered that squares of weldmesh are a very useful additional tool since they can be used in a variety of ways to protect plants from bird attacks, or for temporary storage, keeping animals off areas growing delicate plants and so on. They can also be used to protect delicate plants that have to be left outside in the more severe weather, by making a square and filling in with straw or other insulating material to protect against damaging frosts – especially when the frost and/or snow goes on for a long time.

Finally after all your hard work, have a very happy and peaceful Christmastide.

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Garden Notes for November 2023

Prepare for the spring by digging and manuring the vegetable patch in November. Remember to keep a 3-year rotation so that potatoes (for example) are not planted in the same area two years running.

Remember to get your tulips planted before the end of the month. Try layer planting of tulips in containers. Do this by planting the later flowering varieties first, cover them with about an inch to 2″ of compost and then plant earlier varieties. A typical 12″ diameter container can take up to 40 bulbs in order to get a good display that lasts several weeks if this technique is used.

Watch out for slugs even as the autumn starts to turn to winter. We usually look out for them in the spring, but they can still do considerable damage shoots of delphiniums and campanulas at this time before the hard frosts start.

If you are planting a new tree, put a mulch mat around it or mulch with garden compost. The tree will root much better.

We have had quite good growing weather, and many of the evergreens and hardy trees will have made lush growth. Where possible prune the excess growth back before the winter storms set in, otherwise they will be vulnerable. The main pruning will still need to be done in the spring.

November is the best month for planting bare root roses.

After the first frost has blackened dahlias, cut the tops back to about 4 – 6” and lay the stems over the plants for about a week. This allows the tubers to ripen and harden. When the weather is fine, dig them up and turn the plants upside down to allow any moisture to drain off from the hollow stems and crowns. Store them in a frost-free place where it is cool and dry.

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.

Provided the weather is suitable keep digging the ground for good crops next year. Where possible double dig in farm yard manure, or well rotted compost from your own compost bin.

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Garden Notes for October 2023.

October is the month to start clearing away summer growth and preparing for the next growing season. This will generate a lot of material. By far the best use is to compost it.
Composting is very important, no matter how large or small your garden is. Shredding woody material and large items like cabbage stalks is important.

Dahlias are the most likely to show when there has been an early morning frost. The leaves will turn black and all growth will stop. When this happens, cut the top growth down. Standard advice is to lift the tubers and let them dry out thoroughly before storing in a frost-free place through the winter. I find that the tubers get so large that they take up a lot of space, so I experimented last year and left them in the ground covered by a thick insulating layer of straw. I had much greater success this way than I ever did trying to store them in the conventional way.

Carnations and pinks should be planted in prepared beds. Clear leaves and rubbish around stems. In mild spells firm the soil around plants if they have been lifted by frost.

Before it gets too cold, give the greenhouse a thorough clean and clear out. Remove tomatoes. Night temperatures are dropping considerably now with the result that the skin on the fruit gets pretty tough. Other plants in the green house can be given temporary B&B elsewhere and then the glass should be washed down to remove as many of the ‘nasties’ as possible.

Plant out wallflowers, polyanthus, sweet williams, foxgloves and other similar biennials for a good display in the spring. Spring cabbage should be planted out while the ground is still workable, keep up a succession of winter lettuce like ‘Winter Density’. Cut remaining marrows, squashes and pumpkins. Put them away in a dry, frost-proof place. Clear away all the pea and bean haulm, then dig over the vacated ground.

Once the ground has been cleared it is a good idea to break it up. If you have heavy clay (as most of us do round here) the best way is to use a spade and to leave it with large clods that will break down over the winter with weathering. If you break the soil down too much at this time of year, it will just become a ‘pudding’ and you will have to start all over again in the spring.

If you want early sweet peas, now is the time to start them off. For best result sow one or two seeds in rooting pots as sweet peas have an exceptionally long tap-root. Germinate the seeds in the greenhouse with gentle, consistent warmth. Once they have emerged sweet peas can be kept outside in a cold frame, only needing protection from the worst frosts by having a cover over them

All are welcome to come to the Annual General Meeting of the Horticultural Society which will be held in the Capel Parish Hall on Thursday 9th November starting at 8pm.

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Garden Notes for September 2023.

As John Keats so famously wrote about autumn being the “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness/ close bosom-friend of the maturing sun”, September sees the time when crops are harvested and stored for the winter months that are to come. Carrots should be lifted and stored before the roots start to split, which they will do very quickly once the heavy autumn rains begin. For the same reason, beetroot are better lifted and stored this month. Looking forward to next year, spring cabbage should be planted now. Remember to firm the soil around each plant after planting. Lettuce can also be sown now in a cold frame, or greenhouse. Varieties to choose include ‘Winter Density’, ‘All the Year Round’ and ‘May Queen’.

Watering plants is always a good topic of discussion. It is either too dry, or it’s too wet. The essential thing is to try to get the right balance. When it is dry the closable leaf pores on plants (technically called ‘stomata’) shut down and slow down the process of photosynthesis. When there is enough water the stomata open, transpiration takes place, allowing the air containing carbon dioxide to go into the plant, which, together with sunlight, powers the reaction of water and carbon dioxide to make the sugars that are the plant’s energy source and building blocks. Watering keeps the stomata open in dry spells. As a rule of thumb one square metre of vegetation draws the equivalent of an inch of rainfall every day. Growth of plants in the summer normally requires additional irrigation. There are now numerous automatic systems that can be put in – especially for containers and hanging baskets.

The start of autumn means that many plants are producing seed heads, which we normally ‘dead head’ to keep the succession of flowers going. With the cost of seed increasing year on year it might be worthwhile considering saving some seed head for sowing. Flowers like Sweet William, Love-in-Mist (Nigella), Cosmos, or vegetables like Runner Beans, can be harvested just before the seed-pod has fully dried. Use brown paper bags to hang the seed head upside down and store in a dry place. Remember to label the variety, and then when it is all nice and brown shake out the seed and you have saved yourself pounds for a few minutes work. Unfortunately the lovely hybrids that abound now will not breed true and you will have to rely on the expertise of the professional for that, but if you don’t mind a variety of colour in your Sweet William and so on it is fine.
The growth of rampant climbers like some of the clematis (remember to check) wisteria and climbing roses can be cut back in the middle of September. September is a good time to establish a new lawn and for transplanting evergreens. Remember to divide your irises and to sow hardy annuals for the spring. Towards the end of the month make space to move your tender plants under cover to protect them from the cold nights.

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