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Category: Gardening

General gardening tips and hints

Help Improving Your Soil

Help Improving Your Soil

Every gardener wants to have better plants and flowers, but, sometimes we just need to get to the root of the matter so to speak. There is nothing more satisfying than a deep rich loamy soil. Unfortunately, unless you are very luck, you are unlikely to inherit such a soil. Nevertheless it is definitely worth investing the time and energy to improve your soil. Over time looking after your soil will pay dividends.

What is Good Soil?

  • Free draining, yet holds a fair amount of moisture.
  • Good balance of minerals and food.
  • Light, rich texture, should crumble in your hands.
  • Good soil in the right place and suitable for the items you wish to grow.

Keys to Improving Imperfect Soil

  • Water and nutrients are the key to helpful soil.
  • A soggy mess is not the same as a hydroponic growing medium. Add gravel to improve baddly drained soil. Create a soak away if necessary
  • Add organic matter to help retain moisture and make nutrients available for long enough for the plants to benefit.
  • Soil needs to be the ‘safe home for plants so depth for roots, air for health and pathogen free soil is a requirement.

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Help on Planting Technique

Help on Planting Technique

Kew 332

Have a plan in mind and think about the plants you are going to grow.
Fruit, trees and shrubs will be long term investments and mature over time.
Bedding and vegetables may need different treatment, location, maintenance and nutrients.
Special gardens and collections of plants are even more complex. You almost get out of a garden what you are prepared to put into it!

Prepare Your Soil

  • Eradicate nasty perennial weeds such as Dandelions, Bindweed, Couch grass and Ground Elder.
  • Cover with thick black polythene for at least a year to smother the weeds or use a Glyphosphate based weedkiller like Roundup.
  • Dig the soil 2 spits deep (2 spade depths or 20″). If the sub soil is very poor go one spit deep and create a raised bed to lift the height.
  • Incorporate as much organic matter as you can. Use garden compost, rotted manure, spent mushroom compost and even council recycled and composted waste.
  • Do not worry about a few stones but remove builders debris.

Good Fertilizers

  • Dress the soil with a general purpose fertilizer that releases nutrients slowly. Rake into the top 4″ a week or so before planting.
  • Growmore, fish blood and bone or just bone meal may increase overall fertility.
  • Remember NPK stands for Nitrogen to help green leaf growth. Phosphor for strong roots and bulbs, and K for Potassium for fruit and flowers.
  • Proprietary feeds can be expensive and I would only use them once the plants are growing in situ.

Planting and the Hole

  • You may have heard about a £10 hole for a £5 plant. Well, dig a good size hole, break up the soil in the bottom, place the plant in the hole at the same level it was grown at and firm the soil around the root ball or roots.
  • Stamp around the plant to firm it in again and use a cane or stake as needed for support and protection from wind rock.
  • Plant into moist soil, soak container grown plants before planting and water in after planting.
  • Mulch around the plant (but not touching the stem) to conserve moisture.

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Help Control Moss

Help Control Moss

Moss will recur if the growing conditions are not changed. Killing moss is not a one time operation. Moss stultifies other plants.

Help Moss Control on Pots

  • On newly purchased pots of trees, shrubs or perennials there is often a growth of moss. Remove it to avoid importing new problems into your garden.
  • Peel moss and weeds off the top of the pot and bury it 12″ deep.
  • Moss on patio pots needs to be removed annually in spring. I then top dress the pots with new compost.
  • Covering with grit or pebbles will control the moss.

moss

Readers Question: Is it OK to Compost Moss?

‘I have just been raking a lot of moss from my lawn. It’s surprising how much moss I was able to rake off and naturally I would like to compost it.’ Then I want to cure the problem.

Like any organic matter, moss will compost down and make compost over time but it may take a long time!. However composting is not a good cure and I would avoid putting it on my heap for fear of spreading the moss around.

I would dig a hole under my runner bean trench and bury the moss at least 12″ deep.

One trick, as with any composting is to mix it with other materials, such as grass clippings and woodier plant stems. If mixed together the moss should compost down  depending on how well watered and aerated the compost heap is. Moss grows from spores and it is possible they will not be killed by the heat in your compost bin.

Other uses for moss include lining the inside of hanging baskets. These days, artificial linings are used, but, moss has many properties including water retention which make it excellent for lining an hanging basket

Moss 01

Background Facts on Moss

  • There are thousands of different types of moss.
  • Mosses are used on green roofs due to, reduced weight loads, increased water absorption, no fertilizer requirements, and high drought tolerance.
  • Mosses do not have true roots so do not absorb water or nutrients from soil.
  • Some mosses grow on trees but are not parasitic on the tree.
  • Moss can be used in bonsai to cover the soil and enhance the impression of age.

Moss on tree stump

Help with Problems & Cures for Moss

  • Moss can colonise a badly drained or compacted lawn and look unsightly.
  • Unwanted moss can grow on paths and roofs.
  • Moss growth on seed pots can smother seedling emergence.
  • Moss growth can be inhibited by

Cutting the supply of water through better drainage.
Increasing direct sunlight.
Increasing the soil pH with the application of lime.
Regular hoeing and disturbing the soil around the moss with a rake
Application of chemicals such as ferrous sulfate (e.g. in lawns) or bleach (e.g. on solid surfaces).
Encourage and help competitive plants like grasses.
Top dress plants in containers with sand, gravel, and rock chips for faster drainage to discourage moss growth.
Chemicals products containing ferrous sulfate or ferrous ammonium sulfate will kill moss.

Credits
Moss 01 by Enygmatic-Halycon CC BY-SA 2.0
Moss on tree stump by Pete Reed CC BY-NC 2.0
Moss peat and other products from Amazon

Book Cover
Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures by George Schenk

Sawfly, Flea Beetle and Leaf Cutter Bees

Sawfly, Flea Beetle and Leaf Cutter Bees

Mid summer can be a time for a couple of creatures that are determined to make certain plants look untidy.

 

Sawfly larvae love to feed on Solomons Seal polygonatum x hybridum. They start by making holes in the leaves but can strip a plant to bear stalks and untidy veins in no time. Check beneath the leaves and pick off any caterpillar like creatures. A pyrethrum based insecticide will also work to control sawfly.

 

The leafcutter bee is more a friend than a foe even though they can make you rose leaves look like they have been chewed around the edges. Circles of leaf are cut from leaves and carted away to form cocoons to surround eggs. Damage to plants is unlikely to kill the plant. These bees are great pollinators and are worth leaving alone to get on with being part of your gardens ecology.

Flea beetles can speckle rocket and brassica leaves and leave holes of different sizes. In the main the leaves are still edible and as the insects are so small it is hard to spot them. You can grow under fleece if the problem is severe.

Help Growing on Straw Bales

Help Growing on Straw Bales

Get it right and you can grow bumper crops on straw bales.  It is clean, cheap and environmentally friendly.
The principle is that decaying straw generates heat to form a ‘hot bed’encouraging healthy roots.

Preparing a Straw Bale

  • Watered bales are heavy so get them in the right place first.
  • A polythene membrane will help retain moisture and prevent soil contamination.
  • Water bales thoroughly. If it is very dry soak over 2 or 3 days.
  • Apply 6 oz of dry blood or other nitrogen rich fertiliser over the top of the bale and water in
  • The fermentation will start and the bale heat up. Cover with black plastic to speed up the process.
  • After 4 days remove the polythene and the bale should be warmer than the air temperature
  • Add another 6 oz of nitrogen based fertiliser.
  • Cover for another 4 days then add 12 oz of general fertiliser. The temperature should  peaking at 50 degrees or so.
  • Allow to cool to 38 degrees before planting.

Planting up a Straw Bale

  • With a bucketful of compost make and fill a small hole in the bale. It should be easy to make a small hollow.
  • Add you plants and water carefully.
  • New roots will grow through the compost into the decomposing straw.
  • Chillies, Peppers Tomatoes and cucumbers do well in bales. 2 or 3 plants per bale will give you a good crop.
  • Tall plants need staking but tumbler tomatoes can be allowed to fall over the bales edge.

ornamental-gourds

Advantages of Straw Bales

  • Bales are easy to water and retain moisture longer than a grow bag.
  • Drainage is good and ity is hard to over water.
  • At the end of the season the bale can be recycled as a mulch or added to a compost heap
  • Rotting bales give off carbon dioxide which can be beneficial to crops.
  • Ornamental plants as well as vegetables will flourish.
  • Bales are generally cheaper than grow bags.
  • Straw is better than hay the tends to go mouldy.
  • Liquid feeding is required as straw is low in nutrients.
Definition of a Weed

Definition of a Weed

Dandelion

Dandelion – Weed or Plant of beauty?

 

Some definitions of a Weed

  • A weed is a plant that you don’t want to have in the garden.
  • Alternatively a weed is any plant in the wrong place.
  • What is a weed to one is a prize plant to another. Many ornamental UK plants are a weed in their natural habitat.
  • A weed is a plant that lives whilst other plants die.
  • A weed invades, reproduces, survives and frustrates a gardener.

The question is, what kind of plants fall into the weed  category? As gardeners we sometimes fall into the trap of aiming for perfection and feel guilty about a dandelion growing in the herbaceous border. However, a dandelion has a certain natural beauty. Even its seed heads are beautiful. The problem is we have been conditioned to think that the dandelion is a ‘weed’ and therefore needs to be always removed. Sometimes it is a matter of changing our perspective. Rather than feel guilty about the dandelions in the grass, why not appreciate its simple beauty?

There are many ‘so called weeds’ which actually are quite attractive – eg Daisy’s, Poppy’s, Thistles

This does not mean we want dandelions everywhere, but, we can learn to be more tolerant of plants often considered as weeds

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Help Growing Spinach

Help Growing Spinach

You don’t need to have muscles like Popeye to grow spinach. It is a simple leafy vegetable that is undemanding if given the right conditions.

  • It is a long day plant initiating flowering as days lengthen.
  • Good moist conditions give rapid growth and a quick harvest before running to seed.
  • Sowing after mid summer reduces bolting.
  • Bolt resistant varieties include Monnopa, Spokanr and Palco.

Book Cover

Spinach Problems

  • Blight caused by cucumber mosaic virus causes leaf yellowing. burn the plants.
  • Leaf spot causes light brown or grey areas to develop. Chose a new site each year and feed wth potassium sulphate.
  • Downy mildew can by a minor irritants. Thin out the rows and remove infected leaves.

 

Book Cover

Millipede & Centipede Problems

Millipede & Centipede Problems

From our latest selection of garden pests some of the least voracious are the Millipede & Centipede families.

Millipedes have long bodies with many segments with two pairs of legs to each segment. They are black, dark brown or creamy white with red spots on the underside  with short antennae.

Centipedes are brown or pale yellow with relatively long antennae and only one pair of legs per body segment.

Diet & Control

  • Centipedes feed mainly on insects both good and bad from a gardeners point of view.
  • Millipedes feed on dead plant material but can damage seedlings or exploit damage caused by other pests
  • Spotted snake millipedes exploits slug damage on potatoes, bean seeds and fungi.
  • There is no chemical control
  • Keep seedlings well watered and growing strongly through vulnerable periods.
  • Do not add to compost heaps any infested soil.
Climate Change and Garden Insects

Climate Change and Garden Insects

Moth

One thing is sure the climate in your garden will change. You already know one week will be different to the next and I can’t remember when two months or any years were the identical to others. In many areas you can get 3 or 4 seasons in one day (or in Scotland one hour!).

Another thing to be sure about is the ‘law of unintended consequences’ or we might not get the effects we expect and plan for.

The march of insects, predators and undesirables.

Changing climate does not bring more alien species but it can make our environment more welcoming for them when they do arrive. Recent arrivals include but are not limited too:

  • Lily beetle the bright red insect devouring my lily bulbs as we read
  • The Harlequin ladybird still a pleasant curiosity but rapidly out eating or native species with its voracious appetite. …

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Ecological & Organic Pest Control

Ecological & Organic Pest Control

ladybird

Biological warfare is both a modern and old fashioned method of control for garden pests. Encouraging natural predators is part of a gardeners armory to maintain an acceptable level of control but when infestation is bad call in bug busters. This is now available in the form of nematodes or biological controls that are introduced to feed on the actual pest or its larvae.

Slugs

One of the most disliked pests in the garden. There are 4 main species that gardeners love to hate the black slug, keel, field and the common garden slugs. The nematode Phasmarabditis hermaphrodita  is applied from now through summer to seek out and enter the slug with a bacteria which causes the slug to stop feeding and die. Repeat applications may be needed every 6 weeks or so.

Ladybirds

The humble ladybird feeds on Aphids and is a great ecological control beating chemicals hands down. Both adults and larvae eat the aphids and as soon as you see an infestation you can introduce Ladybirds from a supplier via a tube full of the little darlings. Adults are not cheap but larvae can be supplied more economically however cheapest by far is to protect the ones you do have naturally in your garden.

Other Pest Controls

Vine Weevil or (vile weevil) eats its way through healthy roots and can destroy begonias in next to no time. A natural preditor is available called steinernema kraussei. Spidermites in a greenhouse will feed on tomatoes or strawberries spreading viruses. Phytoseiulus breed and eat spidermites but like all nematodes if there is no host food they tend to die out. White fly can be controlled by a parasitic wasp encarsia formosa which lays its eggs into the white fly pupae.

Gardeners Tips

  • Having said all that I am personally unhappy treating one problem with an over supply of another creature. Some damage is inevitable and is to be tolerated. On key plants I may resort to other spray controls.
  • Good clean well tended gardens tend to discourage pests and barriers like nets or fine mesh may be adequate.
  • Traps, sticky tape or hand removal may be more appropriate.
  • Best of all attract beneficial insects with safe habitats and a supply of nectar rich foods

Organic Pest Control

bird-bath

There is an increased interest in controlling pests such as slugs, aphids and caterpillers through natural organic methods. But, which are the most effective?

Hoverfly Pupae. Hoverfly are voracious eaters of aphids. A single hoverfly can eat several hundred aphids. As gardeners we can grow many companion plants which help to attract aphids – e.g. marigolds, poached egg plant. But, sometimes we need to help our hoverfly population get started. Companies can sell hoverfly pupae so that you can introduce them into your garden – and then let them do their best. Hoverfly Pupae at T&M

Beer Traps. You don’t need to buy any expensive equipment, just use an old plastic pot and some cheap beer (maybe landlord will let you have the excess spillage). Then use this beer for filling the plastic pots. Slugs will be attracted by the smell and drown themselves – the most humane method of killing!

Pond and Frogs

Another excellent natural predator of the slug is the common garden frog. If you build a pond then you should be able to attract frogs. Frogs can eat many slugs during the night and save you a lot of slug pellets. A cheap and environmentally friendly way to keep your slugs down

Birds

Birds such as blue tits and Thrushes can much their way through many garden pests such as slugs. Leave water and food to attract the birds into your garden.

Nemotodes for Caterpillars and Slugs

Caterpillars can destroy cabbages and certain plants. If you are lucky you will have an army of birds to eat them. But, this is usually insufficient. However, it is possible to get some nemotodes which when watered into your lawn at the right time will seek out and organically kill the caterpillars. Nemotodes for Caterpillars and Slugs

Related

For more on Ladybirds
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