Gardening and Yard Care Guide.
Text only Edition.
Gardening Questions Answered.
Your problem solver throughout the Four Seasons.
Updated on a regular basis.
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March ------------
March brings breezes loud and shrill! To the keen gardener, March brings the opportunity to get out into the garden and prepare the soil for action.
If the weather is mild the grass will soon be on the way, so it is best now to check over your lawn mower for defects before you begin. Check for blade wear, oil bearings aaand on electric mowers check the cables for damage. Remember when working on your mower, always remove the spark plug lead on petrol mowers and always unplug electric tools.
If taking an early cut on your lawn it is best to use a rotary mower, set the blades fairly high to avoid pulling the grass out by the roots. This is more prone to happen with a cylinder mower.
For the really keen gardener this is the time to sow vegatable seed and some varieties of annual flower seeds. The soil at this time of year is often wet and cold, so one should always choose a good drying day for seed sowing. Nothing will be gained sowing early if the seeds rot away in wet soil. So if conditions are not right, it is better to sit in front of the telly rather than waste your time and money.
So that you dont lose valuable time due to wet conditions, many early vegetables can be started in boxes in a cold greenhouse. Alternativly, there are many cold frames on the market with which to cover and protect the young plants against the worst of the weather, if you do choose to sow outside.
Now is the time to prune back unruly growth on your shrubs, before leaf growth begins. In order to retain the flowering buds, do not prune the early flowering rhododendrons magnolias and azaleas until the Autumn. Theses three shrubs along with heathers will benefit from an application of peat around the base of the plant. The peat not only keeps the ground damp but also makes the soil acid for theses lime hating plants.
Also see MARCH QUESTION AND ANSWER page. Contains graphics. NB.. There are many other links to advice sites and technical pages on the LINKS TO RELATED SITES page.| TOP OF PAGE |
With the warming sunshine and the end of the winter winds, April is an ideal time to plant container grown conifers and shrubs. Conifers and evergreen shrubs straight from the crowded nursery bed are often a little tender and will lose water rapidly though the leaves
until established in their new home. Therefore it is essential that you apply water in copious amounts during the first few months after planting. Also peat or wood chippings around the base of the plant will help retain moisture.
If you own a greenhouse, (and you are prepared to use heat), its time to sow half-hardy annuals (Bedding Plants) for planting out after the frosts are over. Begonia corms and dahlia tubers can be started off in a shallow tray of compost in the glasshouse, for planting out later. By the way, I trust that you washed off the winter dirt and moss from the glass, to give maximum light.
For more details on seed sowing and how it's done, go to Sowing Seeds
April ------------
Nowadays if you don't want to sow seeds but still use your greenhouse to make savings on your plant bill, you can buy your summer plants from the Garden Centre as small 'Plug Plants'. These plants are part grown at the nursery in their own individual root cell, You can then grow on theses plants in larger containers and at planting out time you will have much larger and better plants than those purchased in cramped trays, from retailers.
Outdoors, potatoes can be planted this month, if you like the taste of a freshly harvested spud they are a crop worth growing. But, unless you have lots of garden space, potatoes are not really an economic proposition.
Early varieties of Runner Beans can be sown outdoors right at the end of April, but be prepared to cover the plants if frost is forcast. If you are in a frost prone area sowing indoors and planting out after the danger of frosts is past, is probably the safer option.
Also see APRIL QUESTION AND ANSWER and APRIL Q&A, 2
pages. Pages contain graphics.
| TOP OF PAGE |
This is a glorious month in the garden with all the flowering trees in full blossom. Rock plants and herbaceous plants will be showing themselves after winter dormancy. Now is the time to look around your stock of plants and replace any that have expired or perhaps any that no longer take your fancy. At this time of year nurseries and garden centres carry massive stocks in containers all ready to plant.
As the weather warms up aphids can be a problem on roses and various other plants, there are many types of anti aphid sprays on the market. If you feel that you want to be friendly towards the environment, spraying with a weak solution of washing up liquid will have the desired effect but on a less permanent basis. Here on the nursery we have little trouble with aphids, we have encouraged a large population of small birds which go round the plants eating the aphids on a regular daily patrol.
In the greenhouse, now is the time to plant your tomato plants, these are best grown in grow bags, which are readily available. The advantage of the grow bag is that the feed is incorporated and no Tomato disease is carried over from last year in old soil. For the home grower 'Shirley' is the best cropping variety, but if you are not too confident of your growing abilities, 'Moneymaker' 'Alicanti' or 'Ailsa Craig' are your best bet.
An enjoyable greenhouse job and a way to demonstrate your skills, is planting up your hanging baskets. Use a good quality compost and put plenty of plants into each basket, nothing looks worse than a basket or tub with only three or four plants in it.(see More Q&A page.)
May ------------
Also see MAY QUESTION AND ANSWER page.
PAGE 2, MAY GARDENING Q & A page.
and
MAY GARDENING Q & A PAGE 3
MAY GARDENING Q & A PAGE 4
These four pages all contain graphics.
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Glossary.
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Aphid. A small winged insect that hatches out in clusters on tender plants and kills the plant by sucking out all the sap from the plant stem. Easily recognised, coloured, green, grey, or black.
Some Aphids overwinter on plants kept in protected conditions, so check early for infestation.