Monthly Garden Diary - April 2007

Introduction

The busiest and most exciting gardening time is now approaching as Spring is sprung and growth starts in earnest. The Easter weekend is a trigger for ordinary gardeners, but you can steal a march on the rest by following the advice in this column and starting early. Warmer sun will encourage weeds to grow and trees and shrubs to burst into growth. You can encourage the good growth with suitable feeding and kill off the weeds easily while the plants are small.

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Ornamental Gardening

Annual weeds will be popping through bare soil ready to make a mess of your flower bed before you get a chance to sow flower seed or put out bedding plants. Clear the whole area with Weedol so that you avoid disturbing the soil surface and thereby bringing new weed seeds to the top. For large areas sachets of Weedol 2 dissolved in water give the most economical results, although the ready-to-use Weedol Gun! needs no preparation and is much quicker to use. You will see the results in just a few days as the weeds turn brown and die off. You don’t have to worry about effects on the soil as seed sowing or planting can be carried out immediately the spray has dried on the weed leaves.

Tough hardy flower seeds such as clary, echium, calendula, cornflower, gypsophila, candytuft, larkspur and poppy can be sown in garden soil where they are going to bloom.

Protect the newly emerging shoots of herbaceous perennials such as delphiniums, paeonies, lupins, hosta, dicentra and aquilegia from slugs with SlugClear Advanced Pellets. Alternatively why not use a liquid slug killer such as SlugClear that leaves no visible residues on the soil or plants.

As tulips and daffodils fade, pick off the heads to prevent the formation of seed heads and feed the plant with a good soluble plant food such as Miracle-Gro. Feeding while the leaves are green will help them to bulk up and ensure flowering next year. Don’t bend the leaves down for at least six weeks after flowering.

Patio Gardening

Weeds are always a problem anywhere in the garden, but on paths, gravel drives and patios they are a complete pain. Apply Pathclear Season Long now to any weeds on your patio and you will have got on top of your weed problem for the rest of Spring. That’s because it not only kills any existing weeds but also gives protection against the germination of new weed seedlings for months. To do the job effectively, dissolve a sachet of Pathclear Season Long into 2.5 litres of water and apply over the weeds on gravel paths or patios. If you prefer not to have the trouble of mixing and measuring there are several sizes of ready-to-use Pathclear Gun! Season Long that do the same job.

Sort out the pots and containers that you will use for this Summer’s display of tender plants such as fuchsia, geraniums, petunias, osteospermums and marguerites. Empty any compost from last year’s display and check to see if you can find any grubs of the black vine weevil. They are creamy white, legless grubs, up to 10 mm long with a light brown head. If you spot any then your garden has a vine weevil problem worthy of attention. To protect new ornamental container grown plants from attack they need to be grown in fresh Levington Container & Hanging Basket Compost with Vine Weevil Control. This compost contains the insecticide called Intercept so that you can grow ornamental plants in containers in the knowledge they are safe from new attack by vine weevil larvae. Before you dismiss the need for special plant protection composts check your garden for symptoms of adult vine weevil activity. You may spot distinctive symptoms of adult vine weevil - they eat the leaves of plants such as fuchsia, rhododendron, auricula, euonymous, lilac and paeony, leaving notches around the edges of the leaves. If all is clear simply use fresh compost every year and pray that all the plants you buy in do not contain the eggs of black vine weevil.

The Lawn

Heavy Winter rains in all areas of the country have not only filled reservoirs and aquifers, but have also washed away most of the nutrient reserves in the top few inches of soil. On the lawn this means that the grass may look tired, pale and thin. You will notice this more clearly as you start to mow the grass regularly, especially if you like to see it cut fairly short.

The only way to green-up the grass and provide it with the strength to fill in any gaps is to feed the grass with a Spring lawn food. You will get great results if you apply Scotts Lawn Builder Lawn Food or EverGreen “I want to feed my lawn after cutting”. Both are nitrogen-rich granules that can be applied either by hand or through a wheeled spreader and will green-up the grass in less than a week. Best of all, the nutrients will be released steadily so that your lawn will become stronger, thicker and greener during the next six to eight weeks.

Mow the lawn regularly now, leaving the grass to about 2.5cm (1 inch) long. Use the clippings as the basis of this year’s compost heap mixing it with other vegetable kitchen waste.

Roses, Trees and Shrubs

The heavy Winter rains have diminished nutrient reserves in the soil where roses, trees and shrubs are planted. Like all plants in the garden their roots need to be able to draw on a balance of nutrients if they are to thrive this year and grow and bloom to perfection. The traditional way to feed roses is to place a thick layer of farmyard manure around the root area. Well, although finding a source of well-rotted manure is not easy these days, you can buy bags of a blended mixture of organic matter and nutrients to do a similar job. Try Levington Farmyard Manure on your roses and shrubs and you will be rewarded with a beautiful display of quality roses.

For the rest of the garden man-made plant foods are the quick, clean answer to plant feeding. For a simple one application feed look out for ‘slow release’ fertilisers that feed your plants for 6 months. Miracle-Gro sell a range of easy-to-use shaker jars that contain Miracle-Gro Slow Release All Purpose Plant Food, Miracle-Gro Slow Release Rose & Shrub Plant Food and Miracle-Gro Slow Release Azalea, Camellia and Rhododendron Plant Food.

If the new leaves of your rhododendrons, camellias or citrus trees are looking slightly yellow between the veins then they are in need an extra iron infusion from Murphy Sequestrene Granules. Just one treatment a year will ensure your ericaceous plants are well supplied with chelated iron to alleviate any iron deficiency.

If the soil in your garden is completely wrong for ericaceous plants then you’ll have to go really potty to enjoy their beauty. If your soil is too lime, then try planting them up in containers of Levington Ericaceous Compost or Miracle-Gro Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Compost. It’s ideal for all acid-loving plants and if combined with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food they will thrive.

The mild, wet month of January fooled roses and other shrubs into early growth and there have been few really cold snaps to kill off pests and diseases this Winter. Temperatures recorded in January in the south east were about 3% above the average, and global warming is clearly being recorded.

With this in mind you really should start spraying your roses with a combined insecticide and fungicide as early as possible, to control the pests and diseases that are thriving in these warmer climes. If your roses were infected with blackspot last year then start spraying as soon as the new leaves are opening – if your plant were clean last year it is safe to start spraying as soon as you see the first signs of disease. Choose a still, mild day and spray all stems and both sides of every leaf with RoseClear 3 or RoseClear 3 Gun! These products will kill any greenfly or blackfly that have emerged and protect the plant from new attacks of powdery mildew and blackspot diseases.

New Plants from Seeds/Bulbs

Sow seeds of tender vegetables such as aubergines, sweet peppers, chillies, tomatoes and cucumbers on the windowsill so that you have good-sized plants ready to plant out in the garden for mid-May. Use a top quality compost such as Levington Seed & Cutting compost for maximum germination and place the pots or trays in a warm light spot so that growth is sturdy.

Young seedlings of tender bedding plants such as geranium, salvia, busy lizzy and petunia should be given extra room for roots and foliage growth. Prick out the seedlings into trays of a quality potting compost such as Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost or Levington . You may have noticed that many of the composts you buy nowadays are not just made from peat, but includes other materials such as green compost, composted bark and the recycled husks of coconuts, called coir. The inclusion of these other materials has been happening gradually over the last decade and gardeners are now confident that these reduced-peat composts will grow just as good plants as the all-peat composts of yesterday. In all outlets you can also buy totally peat-free composts and these materials are now able to grow some excellent plants with the right sort of watering techniques.

Manufacturers and retailers have been working towards meeting the Government’s target of reducing peat usage in garden composts and soil improvers. The Levington and Miracle-Gro brands have reduced overall peat used in these materials by at least 40%, although the next hurdle of reducing peat use by 90% in the garden market will be more difficult for the overall industry to achieve. In the meantime enjoy the reduced-peat composts that are sold by manufacturers and retailers throughout the country. It’s worth noting that at the last count the Own-label brands of compost sold by the Focus DIY stores contain the lowest peat content of any own-label brand.

Fruit and Vegetables

When the soil is warm enough to be growing weeds then it’s time to sow all manner of vegetables outside. Vegetables that will be transplanted to their final growing positions such as Summer cabbage, sprouts and leeks should be sown thinly in fine soil that has been improved with the compost from last year’s hanging baskets or patio pots. If the soil in this seedbed is particularly wet then covering the area with cloches will help the surface to warm up, dry out and encourage good germination.

For plants that will be growing from seed to harvest in the same spot such as parsnips, beetroot, shallots, Spring onions, carrots, lettuce and hardy peas then the soil needs to be enriched with plant food to lift the nutrient reserves to an adequate level. Dress the soil with Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food before sowing the seed.

Tread over the area that is to grow onions this year to compact the surface. Snip off the brown ends from the onion sets before placing them in shallow drills 1 cm deep. As birds delight in pulling out onion sets from the soil, cover them with netting at least for a couple of weeks until they have rooted into the soil and have a firm grip.

Make sure all fruit trees and bushes have had the benefit of a generous dose of fertiliser using a controlled release plant food such as Osmocote or Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food for long lasting results and a good crop. Strawberries will now start to flower ready for a May crop and the open flowers will need protecting against hard frosts with layers of newspaper when severe cold weather is forecast.

Water Wise Gardening

Manufacturers of dishwashers are obviously taking into account the need to use less water and a reader of this diary correctly points out that it is possible to buy modern machines that only use 11 litres of water. That’s good news, but detailed research on the www.waterwise.com web site shows that only Miele standard machines use that little amount of water. The other standard sized machines reviewed by waterwise use between 12 and 16 litres each on a normal cycle.

That’s obviously a very efficient use of water in comparison to older machines but still twice as much as I use in my washing up bowl for hand cleaning of crockery. As with all domestic appliances, it’s a good idea before you buy to study the information on the waterwise web site so that you are doing your bit to minimise water waste.

Out in the garden we can also save water by reducing the amount of moisture that evaporates from the surface. The way to do this is to spread a mulch layer of organic matter over the soil. Anything and everything that reduces evaporation is good for plants. In the past I have used strips of old woollen carpets in the fruit garden. Turned upside down so the backing is showing rather than the swirls of Axminster pattern, strips of carpet make a great mulch along rows of raspberry canes or asparagus.

Well-rotted garden compost is OK as a mulch, although germinating weed seeds can be a problem. It’s much better to use a sterile medium that contains the minimum of weed seeds. Bark chippings bought as bags of Levington Water Saving Bark make a great mulch without introducing a weed seed problem. Spread in a 5cm (2in) layer, these chippings insulate the soil, reducing the effect of winds and still allow rain water through to keep soil evenly moist.