Gardening – Page 83 – Gardeners Tips

Save Water Garden with a Friend

June 10, 2009 hortoris

Older gardeners may remember the water company slogan ‘Save Water bath with a friend’ used during the great water shortages of 1976. Are we in for another summer like 1976? Some thinks so others are still suffering floods and unseasonal cold still as Baden Powell said be prepared. I am suggesting help from friendly gadgets to save water in your garden this summer.

Watering Systems for Pots.

For a cheap system of ‘container watering’ use a big container (they hold more soil and water and have less pot surface area to soil) and mulch the top with 2″ of gravel, slate or bark. Plastic containers evaporate less from the sides but the soil gets hotter than with terracotta pots.
When you water make sure you give them a long drink. I stand all pots on a saucer and fill it up as well as watering from the top.
Self watering pots can be bought with a reservoir that avoid 2out of 3 watering requirements when compared to a normal pot.
The Rolls Royce system would be a full irrigation system from a header tank with computer control as used in commercial nurseries. An easy to use irrigation system based on a modular approach can start from less than Â£20 and be used in the greenhouse, garden or for pots and hanging baskets.

Buy an Thompson MorganIrrigation system from Thompson & Morgan from this link.

Killing Greenfly

June 8, 2009 tejvan

greenfly

This daisy is covered with blackfly a close relation of the greenfly. Greenfly can do damage to a plant by weakening it and helping to spread disease.

The importance of getting rid of greenfly depends upon the plant. For example, a daisy like this doesn’t seem to be that affected by infestations and it is often fine to leave it to nature’s control.

greenfly

This hoverfly is an excellent predator of greenfly and blackfly, it can munch through a large quantity of greenfly.

However, if you have prize roses or want to grow cut flowers then you will want to get rid of the greenfly.

Insecticide’s from Amazon

Organic Method of Killing Greenfly

This greenfly killer is based on a fatty acid solution which kills greenfly on contact. The important thing is the spray needs to come into contact with the greenfly. But, it can provide an excellent alternative to chemical pesticides.

Organic Greenfly killer

Related

Organic Methods of dealing with greenfly

Honeysuckle Climbing Lonicera Varieties

June 2, 2009 hortoris

Woodbine is the common name for this Honeysuckle that provides a strong sweet scent in the cottage garden from the end of May. The climbing twining Honeysuckles are part of a large family of Lonicera that also includes a range of shrubby plants.

For sweetly flowering honeysuckle in winter try Lonicera fragrantissima or Lonicera Standishii whilst the best flowering summer species are the evergreen Lonicera Japonica. Sacrificing some scent for colour tryLonicera tellmannianawith flowers that are orange with red streaks on the outside or ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ for a terrific summer show of long scarlet flowers.
Belgica or the later flowering Serotina are true Honeysuckles that with a little support on a wall will scramble away to 10 feet or more. They will twine through branches of other trees quite happily and combine with robust roses to good effect.
Honeysuckle can be cultivated from cuttings and I have one plant that has had progeny in 5 gardens over the last 50 years as I moved house.
Pruning tips: …

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Legumes and Pea Flowers

May 28, 2009 hortoris

I am kicking myself for not noting the name of this alpine flower captured on my camera during a recent garden visit. The familiar pea shape and colour are reminisent of Cytisus or Broom but with 727 genera of Legumes I can’t be sure.

Gentle Reminders

Inspect plants close up to discover the natural beauty and make associations and links to other plants as the old plant hunters used to do.
The next reminder to myself is to make a note of a plants name when you have the chance to do so. My memory is totally fallible.
My vegetarian children eat the growing tops of Peas and I have resolved toÂ try eating them as well.

Legumes of the World is an authorative text on the range of leguminous plants but it comes at a price of Â£56 even from Amazon.

Solanum Potato Flower Climber

May 22, 2009 hortoris

The plant family Solanaceae is large and diverse from the nightshades, through tomatoes, potatoes and peppers to daturas and Solanum there is a detailed explanation of these species on hvanbalken.com

Gardeners Solanum Tips

The Chilean potato vine Solanum Crispum is just theÂ vigorous climber to give your sunny wall an exotic look.
It has wiry stems which need tying up to wires or trellis for support. Prune and tie in to retain the required shape.
The small semi-evergreen leavesÂ remain on the plant in all but bad winters and easily reach 6 feet tall.
The potato-like flowers with lilac petals around a pointed yellow centre, appear continuously from mid-summer to mid-autumn. The variety ‘Glasnevin’ is the one to choose, as it flowers more prolifically and is also slightly hardier.
They are pest and disease free once established.
Plants like a moist but well-drained soil that is neutral to slightly alakaline in pH.
To propagate take cuttings from summer to early autumn. If buying from a garden centre buy when in bloom as some varieties have disappointing blossom
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Flowering Currant – Ribes sanguineum

May 20, 2009 hortoris

In my garden the flowers of the flowering currant are over for another year so this morning I started to prune the shrubs. The lobed leaves of the Flowering Currant are seldom of special merit although they look lime green fresh at the moment. Therefore I am happy to prune very hard immediately after flowering.

Pruning Tips

Cut out dead, damaged or diseased wood as a first priority.
Cut out some of the old thick blackened stems at ground level to reduce the thicket and open up the shrub. At least one third of the branches should be removed in this way.
For an over grown shrub prune all branches right down to the ground immediately after flowering.
Shape the shrub by reducing the length of the remaining branches to create an open framework with space for new branches .
From the pruned branches new growth will grow and buds form this summer and provide the base for blossom next year.

If you want to grow more plants stick some of the pruned branches into the soil in an out of the way spot and chances are good that several will root. I try get a cutting 6+ inches long with a bit of the older wood as it breaks in to new wood,Â I strip off the leaves for the first 4 inches or so and plant in normal soil with no special effort.

History from The Daily Mail

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Australian Plants & Trees

May 19, 2009 hortoris

Gondwanaland

This white barked tree is an Australian Eucalyptus debeuvillei’ Snow Gum’. It is planted in the special southern hemisphere enclosure at Marks Hall in Essex as part of the Arboretum. Gondwanaland was the ancient name of a super continent that split apart to form Australia, Antartica, New Zealand and South Africa (although I don’t know who was around to call it that).

In the planting there are a large number of as yet quite young Monkey Puzzle trees Araucaria araucana but that adds to the attraction of this fine garden. It is good to see new planting that will be there when the 500 year old Oaks reach their millennium. One of those plantings will be the the Wollemi Pine one of the world’s oldest and rarest plants dating back to the time of the dinosaurs. With less than 100 adult trees known to exist in the wild, the Wollemi Pine is now the focus of extensive research to safeguard its survival.It is far sighted to plant several of these trees as part of the Southern hemisphere garden which will itself develop as the trees mature and provide shelter and (globally warmed) conditions.

Marks Hall Gardens & Arboretum

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Gardeners Tips on Feeding Plants

May 12, 2009 hortoris

Plants need Air, Water, Sunlight and Nutrients to grow.
The top 3 nutrients are Nitrogen N Phosphorous P and Potassium K

Various plants also need other smaller amounts of minerals or trace elements such as Sulphur, Calcium, Iron. Magnesium, Copper and Zinc.

Liquid fertiliser is available as a concentrate or powder that is diluted and applied to the roots and surrounding soil. At larger dilution levels it can act as a foliar feeder adding nutrients through the leaves.

Solid Fertiliser is usually granular, pellet or powder form. They release feed over a longer perion as in Bone Meal, blood Fish and bone or Growmore. They can be incorporated in a planting hole or scattered on the surface to be washed in to feed existing plants.

Green Manure is a crop that is dug back into the soil to improve fertility and soil condition. Clover and pea plants fix nitrogen into the soil whilst grass clippings need nitrogen to rot down.

Apply fertilizer in spring at the start of the growing season and give a boost to vegetables in summer with a granular or liquid fertilizer

General Purpose fertilsers have a combination of all 3 key nutrient NPK and this is shown on the packaging in proportions 2:2:6 would have the same proportions of nitrogen and phosphorus but twice as much pottasium so would be good for flowers and tomatoes.

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Quick Gardeners Tips

May 8, 2009 hortoris

Salad

Lettuce seed only germinates below 20 Â° C ( 68Â° F) so avoid a position that is in full sun. Drying out can cause lettuce to bolt.

Sow some Oriental vegetables to use as cut and come again. They will be ready to harvest in a few weeks and good in salads or stir frys.

If growing salad crops in a container box or grow bag make sure it is deep enough to keep the compost moist at all times. If needs be, shade or insulate the container so it doesn’t dry out too quickly

Beetroot leaves look good and can be eaten as well as the roots.Â Try a few in a deep pot if you are short of space.

Onions shredded onto a salad are one of my favourites. You can pull young sets as spring onions so plant them close and eat as you start thinning out.