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General gardening tips and hints

Roses Cultivation Month by Month

Roses Cultivation Month by Month

Roses a Month by Month Cultivation Guide

Just Joey

Growing good roses is not difficult and plants are reasonable and long lasting. Plant them in good soil feed and care for them and they will reward you with magnificent blooms, scent, cut flowers and a great summer show. As a guide to growing roses there is a list on monthly tips and actions to help get the best from your plants.

January
Prepare sites for new roses to be planted in spring. Double dig the ground and add organic matter, compost, humus and/or manure. Mix in bone meal.
If the soil is frozen or waterlogged and unsuitable for planting heel-in bare rooted roses and plant when conditions improve. Normally planting can take place when the roses are dormant from November to March.
Plant to the same level or depth that the rose was grown to – do not plant any grafting below the soils surface.
Check for wind damage causing plants to rock and prune back autumn planted roses if not already done so.
Spray with tar-oil wash to kill over-wintering pests.

February
If soil is still unsuitable cover bare rooted roses in frost free conditions
Firm in any rose trees loosened by gales or frost
Plant seeds from rosehips and species roses in pots in a cold greenhouse
Plant any bare rooted trees if the conditions allow, steep in water for 24 hours if the roots are dry and put banana skins and bone meal in the hole. I am happy to plant 18inches apart for most trees with a bit more or less space depending on the vigour of the type and variety.
Later in the month in sheltered gardens pruning of established plants can start. Cutting out weak stems and a third of the oldest, woodiest growth will encourage new shoots.
Thin out over grown ramblers but take care or you will loose the years flowers if they are not the repeat flowering varieties.

Rose

March
Complete the spring pruning. Cut at a 45 degree angle just above a bud.
Spray plants and surrounding soil with a fungicide to kill spores of Rust, Black spot and mildew.
Apply rose fertiliser with balanced NPK 5:5:10 and trace elements by raking in the granules
Mulch with bark or well rotted compost. Avoid grass clippings.
Prune in frost free weather. Prune climbers by halving the length of side shoots and removing weak or damaged growth. Cut out frost damaged growth to undamaged buds.

April
Complete the feeding and mulching of established roses. Good mulching will help ward off mildew in the summer.
Water recently planted roses winters can be quite dry.
Weed by hand to avoid damage to roots and encouragement of suckers.
Tie new shoots of climbers and ramblers. Keep growths as horizontal as practical to encourage flowers.
Container grown plants can be planted out in a hole twice the size of the container back filled with good soil enriched with humus and bone meal.
Container plants should be soaked a day before planting, if the root ball is planted dry it is unlikely to become wet and the plant will be stunted and sickly.

Rose

May
Spray roses with a systemic insecticide for saw flies and aphids. Pirmicarb insecticide if you can find it shouldn’t kill beneficial insects.
Spray with a systemic fungicide at the same time
Water young plants if the weather is dry
Under plant formal rose beds with annuals, herbs or violas
Plant container roses like the smaller patio varieties
Try layering to get a new plant. Take a young stem and peg it to the ground about 6 inches from its end. Nick the pegged point so roots can form and put a stone over the peg to conserve moisture.

June
Admire your first flush of flowers of the season – take time out to smell the flowers.
Water during prolonged dry spells but don’t let the soil ‘pan’ – hoe or fork the surface
Keep weeds at bay and don’t damage the rose roots.
For extra large blooms disbud hybrid tea roses by taking out all but one bud per stem to get a show stopping rose.
Deadhead any early flowering roses
Remove suckers by tearing away from the root source not cutting as this encourages twice as many. Suckers have seven leaves whilst most roses have five leaves.
Visit other gardens in bloom and make a note of favourite varieties.

Rose Plaisanterie バラ プレザントゥリ

July
Tie in vigorous shoots on climbers and ramblers- cut up tights are as good as other ties and cheaper.
Feed with a rose fertilizer NPK 5:5:10 – the extra potash is good for flowers
Ensure container grown plants do not dry out after planting
Bud new roses to grafting stock by removing a one inch bud and inserting it into a T cut at top of the root on the stock. Tie it in with raffia. In the spring cut back the grafting stock to the grafted bud.
Deadhead modern roses and climbers cutting back to a leaf joint
Deadhead old fashioned roses except those you want to display hips.
Deadheading hybrid Tea and Floribunda roses encourages a second flush of flowers in late summer.

August
Continue with the good husbandry of watering and spraying for pests and disease. Remove and burn any infected leaves and clear weeds as they start to grow.
Look out for mildew that can be worse in dry conditions so water and mulch.
Give plants a foliar feed as roses can absorb nutrients through the leaves. This may help in alkaline soils where plants find it hard to take up feed.
Continue to deadhead and remove any suckers.
Order new plants for autumn delivery.

Rose Naema バラ ナエマ

September
Apply sulphate of potash to harden new wood. Do not add other feed which encourages sappy growth that won’t survive winter.
Prune and tie up standard and half standard roses so they are not blown around in winter storms
Take 12 inch cuttings of ripe, woody shoots and plant them in a shady spot
Visit an autumn rose show at Harrogate or Malvern

October
Tidy up the rose beds, clear weeds and burn diseased leaves.
As flowers finish cut long stems back by about half to stop wind rocking the plants and damaging the rooting system during winter
Continue to take hardwood cuttings
Prepare any new bed with plenty of manure, mushroom compost or humus rich soil improvers

Rose Hip

November
When planting new rose trees trim any broken or damaged roots and prune out any weak growth.
When planting new trees, add a sprinkling of bone meal in the planting hole. Pack the soil firmly around the rose tree.
Plant climbers 15 inches away from a wall or fence and fan out the main stems

December
Transplant mature trees cutting back roots to about 12 inches. Cut growth back hard.
Sow seeds in a cold frame.
In really cold climates pile straw fir branches or soil around the plants to protect through winter.
Have a last check for ties, damage, diseased leaves and pruning needs.
Add roses or membership of the Royal National Rose Society to your Christmas wish list. http://www.rnrs.org/

Rose Inka バラ インカ


Credits
Rose by clouserw CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Rose Plaisanterie, Rose Naema and Rose Inka バラ インカ by T.Kiya CC BY-SA 2.0

Growing Solanum Crispum Chile Potato Tree

Growing Solanum Crispum Chile Potato Tree

051

My Solanum Crispum is now about 8 feet high but is covered in purpley-blue blossom most of summer. I prune it to keep it at that height or it would go on to 20+ feet tall.

Plant Characteristics of Solanum Crispum

  • This shrub is related to the nightshade and potato family.
  • It is aka Chilean Potato Tree.
  • The flowers have an attractive yellow centre surrounded by blue flowers similar to potato flowers.
  • The base of the shrub becomes a bit bare after several years.
  • In mild winters, even in Yorkshire, it is evergreen.
  • It has a lax habit and I tie in some branches to a nearby hedge.

Growing Tips

  • I give it no special treatment of any sort, although it’s location is sunny.
  • Theoretically it likes alkaline soil and a high potash feed.
  • Propagate by layering, pegging a lower stem to the ground, or by semi ripe 3″ cuttings taken in late summer.
  • Despite being related to Potato all parts are all poisonous.
  • The variety ‘Glasnevin’ is the one to grow for prolific flowers.

Pruning Solanum

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Growing Ferns

Growing Ferns

A Fernery can be a fine thing Evergreen Hart’s Tongue Fern

Asplenium scolopendriums or spleenworts are a good contrast plant in a shady fern border. The shape of the long evergreen fronds gave rise to the common name Hart’s Tongue Fern.

Growing Hart’s Tongue Ferns

  • They provide year round interest being ferns with simple, undivided fronds. The leaves are 4-24 ” long and 2-3″ broad.
  • Once planted, hart’s tongue fern grows slowly and needs little attention apart from annual mulching and tidying in spring.
  • Plants grow on lime-rich substrates including moist soil and damp crevices in old walls, most commonly in shaded situations.
  • In sunny sites the leaves turn a sickly yellow.
  • They are not suitable for growing in pots and containers.

Stream
Varieties of Asplenium

  • Crispum group have fronds with crimped margins making them appear plumose or feather like. Boltons Needle is one specific form.
  • Asplenium scolopendrium muricatum has narrow dark green fronds with raised wrinkly edges.
  • Asplenium trichomanes have glossy green oval, pinnae paired along the length of a purplish stem. Ideal for walls and crevices.
  • Asplenium scolopendriumLaceratum Kays is a form with wide open, ovate fronds with deeply cut margins and miniature crested tips.
  • See others at World of Ferns

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park the ferns make an important contribution to the local flora. Hart’s-tongue fern is shade-tolerant and prefers lime-rich soils and can be found in dark and damp environments including the grykes of limestone pavements.

Woodland

Bracken or Pteridium is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Historicallly bracken was used to produce thatch, animal bedding, compost and used in herbal medicine.

Yorkshire Gardens Top 10 Visits

Yorkshire Gardens Top 10 Visits

Wentworth Castle 122

Cornwall and the west coast of Scotland have some fine temperate gardens well worth a visit but Yorkshire has the grandeur of the stately home garden.

Starting with an old site a must visit is Yorkshire’s first World Heritage Site, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal a huge estate of beauty, contrasts and surprises including the largest abbey ruins in the country and one of England’s most spectacular Georgian water gardens.

Castle Howard’s 1,000 acres of Gardens are stunning whatever the time of year, and visitors can find peace and tranquility whichever path they choose. Delightful walks reveal in turn hidden glades and breathtaking views with Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Magnolias to dream about.

RHS Harlow Carr the northern mecca for Royal Horticultural Society members there is much to learn and see with the upgraded facilities now on display. I am looking forward to the opening of a new library in 2010.

Parcevall Hall Gardens, up in the true dales on a steep hillside near Appletreewick, are planted with many specimen trees and shrubs collected from Western China and the Himalayas. Far from main roads this is a retreat in more senses than one.

Helmsley Walled Garden and Duncombe Park can be visited as one but the Parkland was closed when I last visited. The walled garden dating back to 1758, and set against the spectacular backdrop of Helmsley Castle was more than enough to hold my interest.

Thorpe Perrow Arboretum is open all year and has 85 bacres of woodland walks and a display of Falcons and other birds of prey. Look out for spring bulbs and blossom or wait for the autumn foliage.

Ripley Castle has been in the Ingleby family for 700 years but is now open to the public. The walled kitchen garden contains an extensive herb bed and an extraordinary collection of rare vegetables. The pleasure grounds contain a collection of specimen trees from around the world and thousands of spring flowering bulbs, daffodils, narcissi, snowdrops, aconites and bluebells.

York Gate is a one-acre garden tucked away behind the ancient church in Adel that is opened for Perennial the Gardeners Royal Benevolent Society a charity that has been helping horticulturalists since 1839

Newby Hall has sweeping long herbaceous borders and is my current favourite garden to visit. The national collection of Dogwoods is spectacular when in flower.

Burnby Hall Gardens at Pocklington has a national collection of waterlilies and the Stewart Museum. look out for heathers and the old Victorian gardens.

Wentworth Castle’s 50 acres of Grade 1 listed gardens are, historically, some of the most important gardens in the country. There is a fine Fernery and some great Holly behind the castle pictured above.

Gardeners
I didn’t have space for Harewood house (above) in my top ten (which became eleven, so I wonder what else I may have missed, please tell me.

Himalayan Gardens in Yorkshire HG4 3DA

Himalayan Gardens in Yorkshire HG4 3DA

In Yorkshire we are lucky to have several gardens designed using the theme of a Himalayan Garden. The Hut near Ripon at Grewlthorpe is   ‘The Himalayan Garden’ with all the plants you would expect in such a setting including

Rhododendrons both Hybrid and Species over 50 varieties
Evergreen and Deciduous Azaleas
Eucryphia varieties growing 10′ – 30′ as trees and large shrubs
Magnolias and Camellias
Cornus
Bamboo
Primulas and Meconopsis
Himalayan garden Grewelthorpe Meconopsis7
Visit between April and June for the best colour display.


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What does Self-Sown Mean?

What does Self-Sown Mean?

Hesperis matronalis Alba

Seeds are self sown when seeds germinate and grow without the help of a gardener. The majority of plants grow, flower, get pollinated then set seeds. If seeds are then distributed naturally from the plant they are self sown.

What Plants are Self Sown

  • Weeds are among the most common self sown plants. I am thinking of Dandelions, Daisies and Buttercups but unfortunately there are lots more.
  • Before cultivated gardens anything not grown for food was probably ‘nature sown’ in that the plant did it for it’s self.
  • In a broadleaved wood you may get Oak trees growing from self sown acorns whilst Rowan and Elderberry are sown by birds eating berries and dropping seeds.
  • Garden flowers that are commonly self sown include Foxgloves, Nigella, Candytuft, Poppy, For-get-me-not and Nasturtium.

How are Seeds Self Sown

  • Wind distributes seeds that are very light or have a float mechanism like a Dandelion clock or Sycamore seed’s wings.
  • Some seeds are expressed from seed pods by firing. Pansy seedpods tighten up and the ripe seed is squirted a good distance from the parent plant.
  • Birds and animals including humans can be responsible for spreading seeds. Some stick to your clothing others are eaten but not digested like Tomatoes.

Top Ten Self-Sown Garden Plants

  1. This list was compiled with the help of Crocus whose first choice was Alchemilla mollis aka Lady’s mantle, good for edging sunny and shady borders and filling cracks in paving.
  2. Aquilegia ‘Nora Barlow’ or Columbines self-seed readily and are very easy to grow in sun or partial shade.

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Living Stones – Growing Lithope

Living Stones – Growing Lithope

Lithrope

As a child I tried with seeds to grow stones – daft kid or what? Now I do not see the fun in growing Lithopes, due to the early aversion thereapy, but each to their own.

Lithopes are succulents often collected by Cactus growers. Plants consist of one or more pairs of bulbous leaves and hardly any stem. The slit between the leaves   produces white or yellow flowers and new leaves. During winter a new leaf pair grows inside the existing fused leaf pair. The old leaf pair parts to reveal the new leaves and the old leaves will then dry up

I can’t beat the full description, history notes and cultivation report on the BBC web pages. In case the page gets taken down in a cost cutting exercise I have repeated some of the key content.

‘Growing Lithops at Home …

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Tips for Dealing with Slugs and Snails

Tips for Dealing with Slugs and Snails

slug2

Slugs and Snails

I would like to say that slugs and snails are friendly, useful creatures to have in your garden – but I can’t. Slugs and snails have tremendous appetites for devouring your plants. The younger, tastier and more precious your plants the more likely they are to go for them. Young lettuce seedlings seem to be very tasty and a whole row can be devoured overnight by these innocuous critters.

slug

What can be done short of killing slugs? – here are some Eco friendly tips:

Tips to avoid slug damage

  • Discourage slugs by removing edible debris and any slugs you can spot
  • A ‘beer trap’ consisting of a low tray full of beer or similar fluid can attract and drown the slugs.
  • An upturned cabbage leaf will attract a host of slugs overnight and they can be collected and dispatched according to your preference.
  • New ‘green’ sprays and pellets have not yet impressed me but there are a range to try.
  • Some plants are less attractive to slugs. Foxgloves, Aqualegia, Nasturtiums, Euphorbia
  • Leave Bran out. Slugs love bran it may fill them up. If they over-indulge it can even kill them.

Barrier methods to stop slugs:

  • Copper works as a barrier as they wont slide and slither on it. Copper bands and tape are available to protect your most cosseted specimens.
  • A raised bed with a copper edging can be used in your veg plot
  • Gravel, crushed egg shells, recycled wool pellets and other hard to slitter across barriers are recommended by various gardeners and companies but the column inches devoted to the subject show that few of them work totally. When it is wet they find a way across to gorge on your tasty crops.
  • ‘Slug Gone’ are wool based pellets that are organic and pet safe. The wool forms a barrier by felting together the small barbs on the wool fibres. Useful around prized plants but expensive for general use.

Beer Traps

slug-trap-beer

If you sink a plastic pot into the ground and fill it with beer, slugs will go and drink the beer and probably get stuck and not be able to escape. In heavy rain, the beer becomes diluted. Quite effective for catching some.

Biological control

A higher tech solution is to buy a biological control called Nematodes which is watered in and the nematode microbes eat them and destroy the slugs.

These are watered into the ground. They don’t work in winter when it is too cold. They are effective in getting the underground slugs.

This is a very good method. Bio-friendly and you let the Nemotodes do the work.

Slug Pellets

slug exterminator

Size 9 gardening boots or fly them into the middle of a busy road.

Slug pellets containing metaldehyde spread every six inches or so are effective killers and last in my experience for about 10 days. However they are not pet friendly although most brands have been treated with a flavouring to deter.

Good luck and if you find a permanent solution you could be on your way to making a fortune.

Read more about  Slug Pellets and protecting Hostas from Slugs

Slug Pellets and Slug Exterminator at Amazon

Gardening Tasks for May

Gardening Tasks for May

A Few quick gardening tips for May.

  • In the Greenhouse. The weather can hot up. Take care to ensure the greenhouse is well ventilated. It is a good time to paint ‘white shade’ on to the sunny side of the greenhouse.
  • Potting On. Now plants are growing quickly, make sure plants in pots get sufficient food and water. Where necessary pot on to a bigger pot
  • Hardening Off. Bedding plants can now be put out. Even though frost is very unlikely, make sure they are sufficiently hardened off; place in a cold frame or sheltered spot.
  • Planting and Sowing. May isn’t a great month for sowing new plants and seeds. Apart from the odd bulb like Begonia and Christmas pot plants like Schizanthus
  • Tomatoes. Tomatoes are growing quickly, make sure side shoots are pinched out to focus energy on main stem. Don’t overwater or overfeed until fruits start to develop.
  • Hand Pollinate melons or other fruit in the greenhouse.
  • Spread organic fertiliser which can act as both food and a mulch.
Quicker Better Good Looking Compost

Quicker Better Good Looking Compost

Quicker Compost Tips

  1. For winter keep the heat in your compost heap by covering the pile of rotting waste. Use old bubble wrap, old carpet or a rubberised blanket as shown on the heap above.
  2. Turn you heap to get air into the mix. I try to turn the heap every fortnight.
  3. Use a separate pile or a punctured plastic bag for old leaves which are slower to rot and have less nutrition. They do make excellent leaf mould.
  4. Chop up waste into small bits, it will rot quicker and more thoroughly .
  5. Use  an accelerator  by adding a spadeful of soil every 4 inches or  ‘Garrotta’.

How do you Use Organic Compost

  1. Good compost mixed in with soil improves the condition, texture and water retention .
  2. Put compost in a planting hole for new trees and shrubs it helps to give them a good start.
  3. Compost around plants and trees acts as a mulch to conserve moisture and protect from frost.
  4. Feeding nutrients back into the soil particularly for heavy feeders like Dahlias, Onions or Runner Beans is one of the main uses of garden compost.
  5. Suppressing weeds can be achieved by mulching with compost.
  6. Replace the soil in the greenhouse where tomatoes have been grown.
  7. I have just made a new bed for next years Sweet peas from lots of home made compost.
  8. Recycles waste and reduces landfill or carbon dioxide emissions.

Book Cover
Check how you compost looks then use these tips to make it look and perform better.

How does your compost look?

  • Black and sludgy compost has too much green waste and water. Mix it up with some shredded newspaper, saw dust or finely chopped woody prunings.
  • Compost looks the same as 3 months ago, then there is no biological activity because it is too dry. Mix in more grass clippings and green waste. Add water preferably with some comfrey or nettle leaves soaked in it for a couple of weeks. Also consider using an activator of horse manure, good soil or a commercial product like Garrotta.
  • Very twiggy but brown and sweet smelling then you need to shred the twigs of brown material and clippings more thoroughly or wait longer.

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