Before I go into gardening tips, don’t forget our Open Gardens triennial event on Sunday 18th June 11am-4pm! Tickets now on sale for Bob Flowerdew’s talk on The Perfumed Garden on Wednesday 5th July and our annual trip on Sunday 23rd July to Oxford Botanic and Waterperry.
Anyone doing the Chelsea Chop can chuck the remains on the lawn and mow it up, put into the grass box and straight on to the compost heap.
Check out the roses for aphids and blackspot. There are some sprays that will do both. Do any dead heading before you spray – no point in wasting it!
Polyanthus in big clumps can be split up and replanted but don’t forget to water them in well.
If you want to grow wallflowers, now’s the time to sow the seed and any other of the biennial such as Canterbury Bells, foxgloves, sweet Williams etc. I sow mine in deep seed trays and transplant when big enough into a holding area until putting them into their permanent position in late September/early October.
My dahlia cuttings are hardening off in a mix of pot sizes, The ones potted in mid-April in 6” pot, then some in 5” pits and the last in 3.5” pots. I never plant out till the last week in May as a cold night checks them and a frost kills them. My early sweet peas are up the canes, so I am tying them in every few days, cutting tendrils off when I have time.
I’m still sowing annuals for cutting – zinnias are a great favourite as they last well! Helychrysum or strawflower do well for me too. I grow king-sized mixed as they are tall and the flowers are a decent size.
I try to have a few lettuce plants growing all the year – this means that I put a few seeds in a 3.5” pot every fortnight and I pot six of them into a cell tray and when I plant those out, I replace them with more seed. However I usually fail in August as I’m busy showing! I have several small cherry trees that fruit well. When the fruit is pea size, I cover the with a sheet of small mesh netting using some clothes pegs off the washing line to make a bird-proof bag. They’re too nice to feed the birds!
Pete Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk
Tel: 01386 861438
Email: [email protected]
Anyone doing the Chelsea Chop can chuck the remains on the lawn and mow it up, put into the grass box and straight on to the compost heap.
Check out the roses for aphids and blackspot. There are some sprays that will do both. Do any dead heading before you spray – no point in wasting it!
Polyanthus in big clumps can be split up and replanted but don’t forget to water them in well.
If you want to grow wallflowers, now’s the time to sow the seed and any other of the biennial such as Canterbury Bells, foxgloves, sweet Williams etc. I sow mine in deep seed trays and transplant when big enough into a holding area until putting them into their permanent position in late September/early October.
My dahlia cuttings are hardening off in a mix of pot sizes, The ones potted in mid-April in 6” pot, then some in 5” pits and the last in 3.5” pots. I never plant out till the last week in May as a cold night checks them and a frost kills them. My early sweet peas are up the canes, so I am tying them in every few days, cutting tendrils off when I have time.
I’m still sowing annuals for cutting – zinnias are a great favourite as they last well! Helychrysum or strawflower do well for me too. I grow king-sized mixed as they are tall and the flowers are a decent size.
I try to have a few lettuce plants growing all the year – this means that I put a few seeds in a 3.5” pot every fortnight and I pot six of them into a cell tray and when I plant those out, I replace them with more seed. However I usually fail in August as I’m busy showing! I have several small cherry trees that fruit well. When the fruit is pea size, I cover the with a sheet of small mesh netting using some clothes pegs off the washing line to make a bird-proof bag. They’re too nice to feed the birds!
Pete Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk
Tel: 01386 861438
Email: [email protected]