If you missed an autumn planting of lily bulbs now is a good time to plant some to catch up for this year.

Quick Tips

• In spring plant the new bulbs at a depth of three times the height of the bulbs. If you plan to leave bulbs in the ground leave about twice the width of the bulb inbetween  (closer if you will be lifting them each year).
• Planting in threes or fives will give a good show if you chose healthy bulbs with plump scales.
• Lilies like  a rich fertile soil so incorporate some slow release fertiliser. As they start flowering give them a liquid feed of high potassium fertiliser.
• Keep watered during dry spells but never let them be waterlogged.
• Lilly beetles can be a red pain. The eggs eat leaves and stems and deposit a black sludge. Pick off and crush the beetles, they can fall to the ground to avoid the slow gardener.
• After flowering cut back the seed heads before they leach out the goodness from the bulb  trying to set seed. Leave to die back then cut off at soil level.
• Try some bulbs in big pots.

 

Hover Mower Tips on Use and Safety

 

Hover Mower Tips

• Hover mowers are quick and easy to use but they do not leave stripes in your grass.
• Use hover mowers to keep your grass tidy but consider a cylinder mower for a top quality look to your lawn. It is the roller on a mower that makesdefines the stripes on your lawn
• The special mowers for long grass are an excellent way of clearing space like a hovering scythe.
• The electric Hover mowers are fine for small lawns and are far lighter than most other lawnmowers but they are unlikely to collect up the cut grass.
• When mowing a bank or slope stand at the top, attach a rope if you need too then swing and lower the mower.
• Mow up and down not across a slope and take extra care on any uneven ground.
• Handles generally fold so the machine can be hung from a shed or garage wall making them extremely space efficient

For Safeties Sake

Before Using Your Mower

• Read the instruction book, it may seem obvious but best to be prepared.
• Fill the petrol tank before you start as pouring petrol into a hot engine can be as dangerous as smoking.
• Examine the area to be cut for stones, bits of metal, toys or pets.
• Set the cutting height, not too short!
• When starting the machine keep it still, perhaps by putting your foot on the hood.
• Hover mowers do not have wheels so they must be carried onto and off the lawn.Lift with care and buy one that is light enough for you to manage.

While Mowing

• Wear heavy shoes with a good grip and keep children away from dangerous machinery.
• Do not carry the mower whilst it is running it will not float from one lawn to the next.
• Keep the mower flat as it is designed to stop ‘flying stones’ by hovering close to the ground. Do not mow over gravel.
• Do not try to use your mower as a cultivator some areas may be so overgrown they need a machete.
• Don’t take risks or walk backwards as you may pull the machine on top of you.
• Safety regulations require all new electric mowers to have elaborate safety switches that usually require two handed use and a constant grip.

I have 35 good ceramic pots and numerous plastic pots and containers dotted around the garden. There is a 3 foot wide path all around the house that hosts many of these pots on a permanent or seasonally temporary basis. I enjoy ringing the changes about location and container content. What I don’t enjoy is watering the pots! Since the floods early in the year we have had scarcely any rain in Yorkshire and the ground is now dry and cracking up. Looking at the forecast April looks like being a shower free zone never mind a good soaker.

A plant pot that needs more water

Why Pots get Dry

1. Too little soil or compost to retain enough moisture often because the pot is too small
2. Compost too free draining eg sandy or gritty soil. Compost need some ‘heart’ to retain water.
3. Porous terracotta pots that allow water to be sucked out through the sides
4. Pots in too much sunshine with no shade
5. Pots placed in windy or draughty conditions
6. Plants with lush leaves that transpire readily and need copious amounts to drink.
7. Root bound pots or those filled with roots leaving no room for water soaked compost.

Excess roots and weed cover restricting water content

Watering Pots

• These comment apply to varying degrees to most ceramic, clay, terracotta and plastic pots, containers, hanging baskets plus similar plant containers.
• You may notice pure peat or coir is very difficult to get evenly  wet. Commercial composts have a wetting agent added during packing so this problem is initially  circumvented
• If pots get dried out the compost is very hard to re-wet. A deep soak for 12 hours is probably the best way to totally rehydrate the soil but that is not always possible. Damp compost will take up more water. Very dry soil sheds the water or lets it run right through. I start with a light wetting or dampner on the surface then 10 minutes later water properly.
• Special care is very important specifically if the compost has shrunk away from the sides of the pot.
• The problem of hanging baskets being difficult to re-water once they get a bit dry has a simple solution which is to use a wetting agent or a small dash of washing up liquid in the water .
• Preventing  drying out in the first place is as  better step.
• Drip or electronic controlled watering would be a top end solution.
• A saucer under the pot would be a cheapo solution.
• A community of pots to create a micro climate and increase surrounding humidity can help.
• Placing the pot on soil or capillary matting would allow some leaching from the surrounding area.
• I use a wick system for pots in the greenhouse with a  strip of capillary fabric or matting trailing from the middle of the pot surrounded in compost with the end trailing out of a drainage hole into a sump of water.

 

A tip for today

1. Fertilise weekly weakly
2. N for leaves
3. P for roots
4. K for fruit and flowers
5. Fertilise when plants need to grow not as they go into a rest period
6. Stand thirsty houseplants on damp clay granules to maintain humidity
7. Houseplants can burn from strong sun through a window
8. Houseplants will grow towards the light so turn the pot regularly.
9. Houseplants can get pests like other plants so watch and treat when spotted.
10. Do not sow seeds too early (they can get a growth shock in cold snap). They will catch up by up to 4 weeks no problem.
11. Sow seeds thinly, smaller the seed thinner the sowing.
12. Sow big seed individually
13. If sowing in plastic cell trays chose an appropriate size 4’s, 12’s 15’s etc
14. If sowing in plastic cell trays keep
15. Mark or label what and where you have sown seeds.
16. Practice gardening until you get it right – keep on gardening for the rest of your life hoping to never get it wrong.
17. Keep conifers well watered or they will go brown.
18. Golden conifers go greener in the shade, golden in the sunshine.
19. It is bad luck to be superstitious about your plants.
20. Mulch to keep soil moist.
21. Mulch to keep down weeds.
22. Mulch to make an area look tidy.
23. Mulch to improve soil texture
24. Deadhead flowers to try get another flush of youthful blooms.
25. Deadhead to direct energy away from making seed.
26. Deadhead to maintain a tidy appearance
27. Prune to remove sick and damaged shoots
28. Prune to keep plants tidy and in check
29. Prune to encourage flowering and fruiting
30. Prune to maintain a hedge’s shape
31. Prune to encourage new growth
32. Plant bulbs as deep as the bulbs size
33. Daffodil bulbs need time in the ground plant early autum
34. Tulips can be planted up until November/December
35. Grit or gravel on top of pots deters moss and helps watering
36. A saucer under a pot holds water – beware of water-logging which will rot roots
37. A saucer under a pot holds water to help watering. Use some gravel to keep pot out of a permanent puddle.
38. Clay pots dry out quicker than plastic or ceramic pots
39. Black plastic pots get hot in the sun.
40. Standing pots close together creates a useful micro climate
41. 
42. In winter keep tender plants in pots frost free.
43. Stand pots on feet so they do not freeze to the ground (a cause of damage to pots)
44. Refurbish plants in pots by removing the surface soil/compost and replace with fresh compost
45. Pots rely on you for care, there is no worms to aerate or feed the soil nor a water table.
46. The bigger the pot the more water it can hold – small pots dry quicker
47. Some plants like to have the roots constrained in a smaller pot to encourage flowering.
48. Plants become pot bound when the roots fill the pot – repot with fresh compost in a bigger pot
49. For a low maintenance garden try conifers of varying sizes.
50. Dwarf conifer are available in different varieties, shapes, textures and forms.
51. Keep tools sharp
52. 
53. Keep tools clean and disinfect to avoid transferring pathogens
54. Keep tools where you can find them and where you want use them.
55. Appropriate tools for the job make gardening and  life much easier
56. If your orchid loses   its leaves and turns yellow, it’s dead.
57. Wait until daffodils are in bloom before pruning roses.
58. Cut the roses down to the same height as the daffodils – this requires some commonsense as there are small and tall daffs and a wide variety of roses but it provides a rule of thumb.
59. You don’t need to cut down your fuchsias for winter but stuff Strulch, straw or pine needles between the branches.
60. When new growth starts you can trim up your Fuchsias
61. When planting out leeks or onions dip the roots in water just prior to planting. The weight of the water keeps the roots extended.
62. Make a homemade birdfeeder in an old hanging basket and add a perch by using a strong stick or cane.
63. The soil on plants from garden centers is often too dry and hard to re-wet. With care you can shake off this compost and replace it with your own.
64. Alternatively leave the pot in a dish to soak in water, with a drop of washing up liquid to break the waters meniscus and simultaneously water from the top.
65. Pansies and to a lesser extent viola are prone to black root rot if over watered. Be sparing when watering.
66. Create smaller beds they are easier to maintain in tight spaces.
67. Take photographs of your garden regularly and at least every season.
68. Take photos before and after a renovation project or new planting.
69. Take photographs of plant labels at botanic or show gardens of those plants you like.
70. Keep old plant labels (and seed packets) in date order as a reminder
71. Use some sort of mulch to line the spaces between your vegetable beds.
72. Birds adore the red, egg-shaped hips of the wild dog rose.
73. Best rose hips are produced by species roses.
74. Where there’s muck there’s brassicas – they love a lot of horsesh…
75. When summer sets in with all it’s usual severity don’t walk on frozen grass.
76. Visit New Zealands exotic Taranaki world-renowned rhododendron garden
77. Keep reading Gardeners tips

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