Plant Specific Fertlisers

Manufacturers have increased the variety of genus specific fertilisers.
At one time variations on the proportion of NPK was enough with Fish, blood, hoof, horn and bone and Growmore amongst the staples. Rose food, ericaceous plant fertiliser and seaweed extracts were then made available with the allegedly all too necessary ‘trace elements’. Good husbandry will replace most Plant specific fertilisers if you follow the basics.

Orchid feed and cactus food were amongst the next batch of prepacked products. Then Citrus plant special fertiliser became a ‘necessity for the millions who grow Oranges and Lemons (although special packs for winter and summer fertiliser seems another step too far.’

Now the choice is wider still with Fuchsia fertiliser, Clematis food, Onion fertliser, Potato fertiliser all prepacked for the ‘gullible gardener.’

Bonsai food and Palm fertiliser are available from Chempak which is now owned by Thompson & Morgan as are Orchid growth and Orchid bloom food. Baby-bio Orchid feed is identical to baby-bio normal except it is watered down by 50% and packaged in a different colour.

Peonies and a special Peony fertilizer from Thompson & Morgan.

The only specialty feeds I use are African Violet and Tomato fertiliser

Dicentra Art for £10

Dicentra are both photogenic and artistic. We often feature them on our Gardeners Tips site as they are rewarding plants to grow.
Growing Bleeding Heart (Dicentra Spectabilis)
Spring Shoots of Dicentra
Plants are widely available for less than £10.

New Dicentra Art for £10

Photographic Prints of Dicentra specabilis Alba from Science Photo Library are available from Amazon. Check here for the actual image which differs from the one above which is credited to Facing North East on creative commons BY-NC-SA 2.0

Technical Details of Dicentra Art

A 10×8 Print features an image chosen by Science Photo Library. Estimated image size 254x169mm.
Printed on 254x203mm Fuji Crystal Archive paper for stable image permanence and brilliant colour reproduction with smooth tones, enhanced sharpness, and excellent definition. Size refers to paper used
Image Description: Bleeding Heart (Dicentra Specabilis Alba) in flower in the spring.
For any queries regarding this item please contact Science Photo Library c/o Media Storehouse quoting Media Reference 6281632
© Adrian Thomas/science Photo Library

Garden Chemical Shelf Life

Can you use last years garden chemicals for this season? Do your herbicides, composts, fungicides and pesticides have a shelf life and if so for how long? Let’s look at ready made garden chemicals, mix them yourself chemicals and dry goods.

Ready Mixed Garden Chemicals

These chemicals should not loose their potency from one year to the next.
Do not store them in conditions of extreme heat or cold.
The factory based mixing should have been done so there is no chemical reaction between the constituent parts of the mixture.

Mix them Yourself Garden Chemicals

Concentrates that that you have mixed yourself can go off within a day or so, certainly the shelf life is less than a week.
The concentrate will last but the act of mixing with water can cause problems.
Impurities in the water and even air bubbles can start a chemical reaction that renders the solution unviable or not fit for purpose.

Dry Garden Chemicals

As long as powders and granules are kept dry, in suitable packaging and at a reasonable temperature they will have a good shelf life unless indicated strongly on the packaging.
Growmore and granular fertilisers should have a good shelf life.
Mix it your self fertilisers like Chempak have a good shelf life but make sure they are properly dissolved when mixing them.
Composts and soil mixtures have a shelf life of around six months. Fresher the better.
Where a product can get damp or starts damp it will deteriorate.

Other Issues on Garden Chemical Shelf Life

Always read the instructions and dilute to the correct strength.
RHS advice on garden chemicals
Pesticide safety education programme
Beware old chemicals should not be kept after they have been declared unsafe by EEC regulation.
Treat homemade organic chemical mixes with the same care as bought chemicals.
Keep equipment clean and wash out when you are finished.
Pesticides and other chemicals don’t spoil suddenly. They deteriorate over several years and even at 70 to 80 percent they may still be effective.

Adventurous Window Boxes

There must be a window box on this picture to tempt you to be adventurous this year.

As you can see window boxes come in all shapes and sizes and there are no holds barred.

What Makes a Good Adventurous Window Box

Credit for photo mosaic
Window Boxes by robynejay CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Garden Clock and Thermometer

If you want to know the time ask your gardener or at least consult his antique rust coloured clock. As a bonus this clock  also has a stylish thermometer on one side and a clock on the other face.

With this garden feature you will know it is too cold to be putting your seedlings out in march (as if that ever stopped me from getting it wrong).
The clock is suitable for indoor or outdoor use and is mercury free. It is available from Amazon for about £32.

The 9″ Paddington station Garden clock is more ornate but only costs £22 not shown.

Out of stock clock but don’t let your temperature rise

Garden Plants

As I considered what garden product to cover this time I realised that garden plants do not get the full coverage on Garden Products. What would a garden be without plants? (Easy to maintain I hear someone say.)

Some of our costs are defrayed by the affiliate income we get if readers buy there plants from Thompson & Morgan or Jersey plants so I do not apologise for giving them a plug.
Plugging away on that theme, click on the top right and peruse the seeds and plants that you want to buy this year. The prices and deals are the same as you would pay even if you were not helping us!

Garden Plants for Free

• OK our commercial is over and you do not need to buy garden plants if you are a bit crafty
• Cuttings will root and take at this time of year. I have several Ceanothus and Dog Woods I have grown for nothing. Even some annuals can be increased by cuttings including Petunias or Verbena and healthy Fucshia, Dahlia or Delphinium can be raised from cuttings
• Saving seed or collecting it as you walk around can produce some interesting plants. I like to collect wild rose hips and grow on the seed.
• Beg plants from friends and neighbors, they are often generous if given a little praise about their garden.
• Split clumps of hardy perennials to increase the number of plants. Some just need the roots pulling apart like the primroses shown above.
• Bulbs and self sown seedlings will multiply for free but you may need patience and be willing to move the wayward seedlings

Choysia grown from cutting

Russian Gardening Tools

‘The Garden tools of the proletariat will rise and overthrow the bourgeoisie with their flymo’s and strimmers’ according to the photographer of ‘Garden Tools by tim ellis’ under CC BY-NC 2.0. So not quite Russian gardening tools but the hammer and sickle have there uses in revolutions and gardens.

Uses of a Hammer

• I have a double skinned boundary wall for alpine and rock plants. A rouge buddleia seedling with big roots pushed part of the wall down and my wife needed a hammer to clean up the stone to rebuild the wall.
• I do the easy planting and used a hammer to get a tree post and climber pole deep enough for the intended support.
• Meanwhile my wife was laying rolls of logs between the concrete path and the herbaceous bed. To partially bury the log roll she used the hammer to crush down the stray rubble foundations.
• I use drink to get hammered but that is another story.

Uses for a Sickle

• Apart from cutting off my head it is hard to see what use the sickle will be, although the resulting blood can feed the plants.
• Long grass, old stalks and stems can be tidied up in one fell swoop or sweep of a sharp tool like the one pictured.
• I do have a Japanese weeding sickle that I was given as a present and it does a good weed and rooting out job.
• I have seen some other names for a sickle including a scythette, a grass hook and a hand scythe. A weed slasher is a tool of a different ilk.

To ‘Build a dry wall’ you may need yon hammer

Planting Combinations of Shape, Colour, Texture or Form

It makes sense to plan what plants you put where and therefore what plants will be next to other plants. At the extremes you wouldn’t put Cacti with bog plants and there are many combinations that would be ridiculous.

This book for March considers a range of reasons for combining plants to make good combinations.

Reasons for Good Combinations

• Mutual support in the form of prevention of insect attack or supply of nutrients.
• Bringing shape, colour, texture and form together in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
• Harmonising with natural features within the gardenscape or wider landscape.
• Good companions working in harmony enhance the garden. Conflict plants can distract from the overall garden.
• Seasonal variations and ground utilisation or crop rotation need to be taken into account

Planting combinations various books

Hang up Your Garden Tools

When I say hang up your garden tools I do not mean you should stop gardening, quite the opposite. You will get more gardening completed if you can find the right tool, in the right place, at the right time. Hence my quick selection of ways to hang up your garden tools from a range of photographer-gardeners.

The DIY model has much to commend it. You can tailor to fit your shed, garage or work space. You can vary height and inter tool spacing and use your own design flair.
I like the string through the handle method rather than the nail in the wall style.

Well stored tools should not be damaged as easily as those thrown into a box or drawer at random. It is easier to see which need oiling, cleaning, sharpening or repairing.
Unfortunately it looks like someone has hung up their garden tools and left them to the spiders and their webs.

Old tools need venerating and some have become real collectors pieces. Some of these older spades have had new shafts fitted and I know of some really old tools that have had several new handles and 3 new blades!

Credits
Tools Of The Trade by Barefoot In Florida CC BY 2.0
Garden tools by cathyducky CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Gardening Tools, Chandos Lake, 2009-07-19 by Open Texture CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
tool rack by robotson CC BY-NC 2.0

How to Grow Winter Vegetables -February Book of the Month

What to Expect in the Book of the Month

• Advice on how to come through winter with plenty of vegetables stored and for growing plants to withstand the winter.
• Growing tips for eating in spring during the hungry gap season of April, May and early June.
• Winter and early spring require a different kind of gardening to the summer months. Not a lot grows at this time but a well planned plot may nonetheless be quite full.

Who Wants to Read ‘How to Grow Winter Vegetables ‘

• If you have a hungry family to feed then have a read.
• If you like fresh home grown produce have a gander at this books ideas and advice.
• If you thought salad could only be grown in summer think again.

Buy from Amazon

Quick Thoughts of the Month

• High producers that take up little space make fantastic sense and this book has lots of help with salad crops, raised beds etc.
• I like the idea of winter making the garden an outdoor larder. That is OK if the soil has the chance to get reconditioned.

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