Gardeners Tips – Page 68 – Tips and advice for gardeners about gardening

Feed and Water Your Fruit Trees

August 21, 2016 hortoris

March is a good time to feed your Pears, Plums, Greengages and Blackcurrants.

To boost your trees into growth they will appreciate a nitrogen feed.
A general feed like Growmore or VitaxQ4 is easy to apply.
A surface mulch of well rotted animal manure will also help.

Watering Tips

If spring is dry water the plants gently with a bucket of water onto the roots. repeat every fortnight if needs be.
Any watering should be dome before mid day.
water well the weather is clement not in anticipation of a night frost.
Water pears for the first six weeks after blossoming. They are usually grafted onto thirsty root stock.
Try to keep water away from the trunk or woody stems to prevent rot.
Newly planted trees need watering for the first year.
If you have dry sandy soil mulch for the first three years to help retain water.
Water the first year after transplant after that they are on their own.
You want the trees to build deep roots so they are self sufficient for water.

Blackcurrants are a shallow rooted so weed by hand.

Blackcurrents are prone to frost damage on the flowers.
Varieties called Ben…. flower a but later or you can cover with horticultural fleece.

March is still a good time to plant new fruit trees and bushes. As the soil warms up they should grow away quite well.

Spiders as Treatment for Aphids

August 20, 2016 hortoris

Yes you can rest happily with this organic treatment for your Aphids. It is called ‘spiders’ and they can be found in every garden and often in your own home.

Spiders

There are over 100 families and nearly 50,000 known species of Spider.
Spiders eat insects and not your plants although there is one vegetarian species of spider.
Spiders typically catch their prey in a Spiders Web as depicted on the plant above

Spiders Webs in the Garden

Orb webs are geometric in shape and often have gaps that any self respecting greenfly can get through.
Tangle webs or cob webs are finer in structure and designed for smaller prey.
Most spiders webs are more conspicuous when they hold dew drops or moisture.
About half the potential prey that hit orb webs escape, so it isn’t a cure for Aphids after all.
A web intercepts the prey, absorbs its momentum without breaking and traps the prey by entangling it or sticking to it.

Spiders are Good for Gardens

Read more from Cornell University Dr Linda Rayor
How to Increase the Number of Spiders in Your Garden

* Use mulch. It provides protection and humidity.
* Provide places for web attachment or homes eg. Crates, tall plants, bundles of hay.
* Leave areas uncultivated and leave plant stalks for overwintering habitats.
* Grow flowers that bring in prey.
* If spraying pesticides, spray when the spiders are less active or use a pesticide that has fewer effects on the spiders.

A spiders ‘evo devo’ and the silk they produce (that is Evolutionary Sevelopment to you and me) is hard science mixed with good writing. from amazon

Treating Root Rot in Houseplants

August 19, 2016 hortoris

Root Rot is a common fungus orientated disease caused by prolonged wet soil conditions. If you catch the problem early enough you may be able to treat the root rot and save the plant.

Root Rot Treatment

Surgery may be required. Knock the plant out of its pot and gently remove the soil.
Support the root ball so it doesn’t break off at the crown. If necessary wash off excess soil in wark running water.
Examine the roots, any blackened or mushy brown root need removing.
Cut off with a sharp, sterile knife well above the area of rot.
Discard the rotten roots and pat remaining roots dry with a paper towel.
Dust with a fungicide like flowers of sulphur.
Dip into hormone rooting powder and repot in fresh soil.
Put the plant in medium light, not full sun and be stingy with watering.
If the plant is going to survive you will see good signs withinÂ a week or two.

For mild problems of over watering take the plant out of the pot and leave it to drain and dry out.

Hormone rooting powder can also be used for cuttings and is available from Amazon

Root Rot Indoor Targets

African Violets
Aloe
Begonia
Cactus
Gloxinia
Palme
Kalanchoe

Credits
Qargha Res Station – Pepper plants infected with Phytophthora Root and Crown Rot by IFDC Photography CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Roses on April 1st

August 18, 2016 hortoris

You may wonder how roses flower on 1st April when your favourite flower is just at its summer best

This is not a joke or April fools day prank but the pictures of all these roses were taken in Madieria on that date.

In sheltered spots old fashioned roses will bloom earlier than HT or Floribunda roses. I am told that by the end of April the Cornish gardens will have roses in bloom.

Meanwhile we will have to be content with these photographs, our memories and the work still to be done on roses in our gardens.

I was impressed by the volume of rose buds on this rose. It had a slightly rambling appearance and I regret it was not labeled.

Training climbing roses can produce some great shapes and flowers. The balustrade for these steps will be strewn with blossom in a month or so’s time.

Growing Convolvulus Cneorum

August 16, 2016 hortoris

Convolvulus is synonymous with bindweed that grows in poor soil and is notably hard to eradicate. However there are some species of Convovulus that are worth a space in a Mediterranean style garden.

Convolvulus cneorum is a compact evergreen shrub with narrow, oblong, silvery leaves. The numerous flowers are funnel-shaped white flushed with pink when in bud.
Grow in well-drained soil or gritty compost in a sheltered spot in full sun.
The plants are not frost hardy.

Convolvulus White Ensign (Flash Seeds) is a dwarf Morning Glory with clusters of white, trumpet flowers with yellow centres!

Convolvulus Eneorum will withstand a north facing or east facing wall but also dislikes heavy frost. The grey leaved shrubs can grow to 3 foot high and wide.

Resources

Organic Control of Bindweed

Weedkillers for Bindweed

Roundup Weedkiller concentrate

Handy spray gun,

Marguerite or Purple Ronnies

August 15, 2016 hortoris

Daisy is the name applied to many flowers of the Asteraceae or Compositae family. Flowers in this group include Aster, Bellis daisy, or Sunflower family plus Chrysanthemum, Gerbera, Calendula, Dendranthema, Argyranthemum, Dahlia, Tagetes, Zinnia even Lettuce and many others.

Marguerite is botanically called Chrysanthemum frutescens meaning shrubby. Native to the Canary Isles, they have been cultivated in England since 1699 as a white and sometimes pink flower.

These plants are especially common in open and dry environments where these purple plants were found.
The yellow centre attracts all the pollinating insects that the plant needs to reproduce seed.

Nuts and Drupes

August 14, 2016 hortoris

True nuts include Pecan, Sweet Chestnuts, Beechnuts, Acorns, Hazel nuts and Hornbeams. True nuts are a simple dry fruit with one seed in which the seed case becomes very hard on maturity. True nuts do not split apart like Brazil nuts or horse chestnuts but the seed and the fruit are one and the same.

Peanuts are not nuts, it may be hard to believe but they are peas or at least part of the Pea family. If you compare the pods of peas and peanuts you will see what we mean. Monkey nuts, groundnuts, Manila nuts, earthnuts and goobers are all just other names for peanuts.

Walnuts are not nuts but are botanically called ‘drupes’. This is a fruit with a fleshy outer coating enclosing a hard shell that contains a seed. Cashew nuts are drupe seeds from the poison ivy family and the seed lining contains an irritating lining. Almonds, pistachios and pine nuts are not nuts either.

Coconuts must be nuts then, no I am afraid not they are another drupe. Nor do coconuts contain coconut milk but coconut water. Coconut milk is made by grating the flesh into water then straining it.

Macadamia nut is just a creamy white kernel and Brazil nuts are seeds in a pod.

Drupes are also fleshy fruit, such as a peach, plum, or cherry, usually having a single hard stone that encloses a seed which may be why they are also called stone fruit.

Resources

QI researched by Molly Oldfield & John Mitchinson

Foliage of Spring Greens and Bi-colours

August 13, 2016 hortoris

Greens are vibrant in your garden during spring and with careful plant selection good foliage can be grown throughout the seasons.

Many shrubs flower before or as the buds are breaking. The greeny yellows and the limes are a joy to behold

Some variegated shrubs give double the value with the greens and yellows blending so well. Who need flowers?

Leaf shape, leaf colour and overall plant form are worth considering when opting for a new plant in your garden.

Inside our house we have a large number of plants that have been chosen for their leafy green appearance. This is a calming colour and the moisture around the plant improves the humidity levels.

More exotic colours are not always difficult to cultivate but access to sunlight generally helps.

Succulent Rosette Rock Plants

August 12, 2016 hortoris

Botanically we refer to a rosette as a circular arrangement of leaves with all the leaves at a single height. On Succulents these rosettes usually sit near the soil.

The succulent Echeveria can drive you up the wall. High on a rock face these plants cling to the rock with little support from their roots. On Maderia the ground was former volcanic rock and seemed porous.

Echeveria are drought-resistant, although they do better with deep watering.
Most will tolerate shade and some frost, although hybrid species tend to be less tolerant.
Foliage is arranged in a rosette in a variety of shapes and colors.
Flowers will appear on the top of stalks that grow from between the leaves.
Suitable for crevise gardens or a rockery.

Other Rosette Forming Succulents

Read about Growing Echeveria and check out Australian siteÂ The Succulent Garden

Rice – No1 World Food Crop

August 12, 2016 hortoris

Wheat is grown in large part for livestock but the majority of the world population survives on rice as its main food source.

There are thousands of varieties of rice preserved at the International rice research institute. (IRRI). There are potentially 120,000 cultivated rice species of Oryza sativa the grass that produces rice.

The IRRU Heirloom Rice Project is an initiative in the Philippine’s Department of Agriculture (DA).Â The project aims to enhance the productivity of and enrich the legacy of heirloom or traditional rice handed down for generations.

China India and Indonesia are the largest producers by weight and the biggest consumers. Thailand is the biggest exporter of rice as a food.Most production is done by transplanting seedlings to give plants a head start over weeds. Dwarf rice has been bred as part of the doubling of yeilds over the last 25 years. It is the shiny white kernel and embryo that is left after the milling has scraped the layers of bran from the seed hull. The bran has a range of uses including cattle feed, cooking oil, soap and pharmaceuticals and medication.

As well as sushi and sake rice is used in American brewing like Budweiser