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Spring is nearly here…

12/3/2018

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​Tomatoes are a favourite for home gardeners, although when visiting friends, I am often surprised at their poor results. It is important to know the variety you are growing is it ‘indeterminate’ or ’cordon’? Both names refer to a plant that likes to grow on a single stem. When it has grown up a string or stake it will produce shoots at leaf axils, these need to be broken off rather than cut out. Breaking will stop any other shoots growing; cutting often results in shoots forming again. Most plants will support 6 or 7 trusses. I always tell people to buy the biggest growbag they can get. If growing in pots, get one as big as a bucket. 
The other type of tomato is the ‘determinate’ or ‘bush’ variety. These start as a single stem that breaks into many shoots that all have flower trusses. This makes a plant that can be grown in a big hanging basket, a planter, or a big pot. Some varieties make huge plants, mostly bearing small fruits. Once the first flowers show and small tomatoes have formed, add some tomato fertiliser to every can of water; you are sure to be repaid by loads of fruit and healthy foliage. 
Watering is vital. Don’t let the plants dry out when they have fruit, or you risk a condition called ‘blossom end rot’ which results in a black or brown patch at the bottom of the fruit. However, try not to get water on the foliage. If you are worried about pollination, just tap the plant gently. 

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​Many books say that you can’t grow cucumber in the same greenhouse as tomatoes. Yes you can! They enjoy warmth, so plant them further away from the door and not until the end of May. Always make sure you buy or grow F1 hybrids. The variety ‘Carmen’ is a standard size or ’Passandra’ which is half the size but very prolific. 
Our next event is our Annual Spring Show – Saturday March 31st – entries and staging is between 9 and 11am - we’d love to see your daffodils, tulips and pansies, amongst other things.
It truly is beautiful to fill the Villages Hall with spring flowers.
If you’re not up to entering, please come along and enjoy a free feast for your eyes between 2 and 4pm. Entry forms and details can be found on our website www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk or email [email protected] 

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​Sunday, April 22nd trip to John Massey’s Garden at Kingswinford. Entry £5, cash only please on the door for the National Gardens Scheme. To see and read about the many treats in store, see their website: https://www.ashwoodnurseries.com 

See you soon!
​Cheers, Pete Chamberlain, Chairman, Bishampton Gardening Club. 
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Jobs to get on with now…

12/1/2018

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Replenishing the food in the bird feeders is as far as I get on these cold and bitter days.  I have started to clear the greenhouses, ready for my start day, for a bit of heat.  I usually start some peppers on a heated bench.  Valentines Day is my start day – any earlier and I don’t have room for all the plants I like to grow.

I always put some mouse traps down before I sow any seeds as they can devastate seedlings.  Don’t sow until you have two days of empty traps.  Mice love sweet pea seeds, marrow and cucumber.  They will also graze on onion seedlings and bite the top out of many seedlings. I have some violas on a bench outside, (ready for the Spring Show on March 31st), and I notice one or two have been pruned back by the little furry beasts!

Pruning apples and pears is a high priority.  I am old-fashioned enough not to prune in frosty weather – a good excuse for not getting too cold!  Don’t forget that stoned fruit shouldn’t be pruned until it is growing, as the chance of getting disease into the trees is lessened.

Another tip is to spray your secateurs with antibacterial spray out of the kitchen after each tree is pruned.  Bacterial canker, which can be seen as raised bark and lesions on trees can rapidly spread and should be removed.  Look at the pruned shoots and see if there are any brown streaks in the area -  if there is cut back until it is clear of dark coloration.  Start your mower and make sure it is in running order as grass will need cutting in March.  If it needs attention, get it done NOW – don’t wait until the last minute.

If you have started heating a greenhouse, think about putting a couple of big pots that could be sown with carrots, radish, lettuce a  bit of protection - they could remain in the greenhouse until you need the room for more tender subjects.  By the time the vegetables have grown, they can stand outside conditions.

So folks, our annual programme starts off with local plantsman, Bob Brown from Cotswold Garden Plants in Badsey speaking about his Thirty Best Plants on February 7th – make a note in the diary.  March’s presentation is Simon White from Beales’ Roses coming all the way from Norfolk to talk about the A-Z of Roses – we’ve been trying for some time to get someone to talk to us about this garden favourite so it should be popular.  Planning ahead, our Spring Show this year is March 31st as Easter’s early so get all these dates down in the diary!
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Winter is here…

17/11/2017

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Winter and the dark night’s are here!  Time to look at seed catalogues and decide on next year’s order.  Another job is reviewing all the tools in the shed and cleaning them. A good idea when someone says what do you want for Christmas? An opportunity to get a new border fork or something similar.

Anyone storing dahlia tubers or gladioli needs to give them a check in case of rot or mouse damage.

Autumn fruiting raspberry canes can be cut down to the ground now.  Blackcurrant bushes can be pruned by taking out some old wood.  Redcurrants fruit on old wood so only need to be tidied up maybe taking out branches that get too close to the ground out completely. Gooseberries can also can be tidied up by having branches that too close to the ground removed.

Roses can be half-pruned to stop wind rock with a final pruning in March. The reason for not hard pruning at this time of the year is that with our mild winters they can grow new shoots that can be killed later when we have cold weather in February.

Next year’s programme is available in print and to download from the website and is packed with talks and outings so have a look.  We start the year off with every popular Bob Brown from Cotswold Flowers and our Spring Show is early this year on March 21st.  

Have a good Christmas and New Year and start the year with resolutions to do better in the garden and make sure you put in those important first Wednesdays in the month in your diary for our Gardening Club meetings!

Cheers

Peter Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk
Tel: 01386 861438

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Results of Bishampton’s Summer Flower and Produce Show

17/9/2017

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The very first Kathleen Yeoman’s cup for the most promising young gardener was won by Megan Coombs.

Angela Miller scooped the Maggie Chamberlain Cup for her entries in the floral art section at Bishampton’s Summer Flower and Produce Show.  In particular, she produced some lovely ideas for Strictly Come Dancing, The Good Life, and Jubilee Walk which drew the judge’s compliments.  

Elsewhere it was a clash of the Titans again with Rosemary Rickard and Pete Chamberlain vying for first place – finally Rosemary was pipped to the post with Pete the overall champion yet again to claim the Greengrow Trophy plus trophies in vegetables, fruit and pot plant sections.  

However Rosemary was a worthy runner-up winning four cups – The Chairman’s Challenge Cup; the Hiller Challenge Cup (Flowers); the Country Cakes Cup (Photography), and Bishampton Stores Cup for Home Produce.  

The Four Acres Challenge Cup for the tallest sunflower was one by Huw Mclelland and the Bevington Challenge Cup for the longest runner bean by How and Eden Miller.

The show was well attended with 257 entries for the 74 categories.  
The accounts for this year’s Open Gardens event which was the Club’s most successful yet, yielded a healthy profit with £300 donations being presented to the Midlands Air Ambulance and Evesham & Lurcher Greyhound Trust.

The Club’s next two meetings will be Diane Bateman on 4th October doing a talk on Fascinating fungi followed by Paul Williams on 1st November presenting on Potatoes, Petunias, Peppers and Poisons.

Visitors to the talks which start at 7.30pm at Bishampton Villages Hall, are very welcome with an entry fee of just £2 per person. For further information, see our website at www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk, email [email protected] or telephone 01386 861438.

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Sunny Summer…

11/7/2017

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What a summer so far!  I know you think I might be deranged but it is time to order bulbs for the winter and spring – get your order to a known bulb supplier and order by September and you will have every chance of getting what you want, whether it ‘s scented daffs for Christmas or smelly hyacinths. I never seem to time it right and have nice blooms in January!  My real favourites are amaryllis, they are foolproof and so spectacular.  Perfect presents!
 
Dead heading is a priority in this hot weather be it roses or dahlias. They will repay you with more blooms if you’re attentive.  My sweet peas have reacted to the hot weather by shortening their stems – instead of nine inches, they’re struggling to make 3”!
 
This year’s village Summer Flower and Produce Show will soon be with us.  All over the country shows are closing some due to lack of support, others due to lack of a committee to do all the hard work.  We are lucky that the Gardening Club does a fantastic job running a Spring and Summer Shows.
 
Please support the Show on Saturday, 19th August – it is open to everyone.  The 74 (yes 74!) classes cover vegetables, flowers, pot plants, home produce, flower arranging, and artistic subjects – as well as a special children’s section – so if you have visiting grandchildren for example – encourage them to have a go!  Pots and containers are judged in situ a week before, so please let me know if you’re entering yours!
 
If you are new to showing, come and talk to one of the committee members, they will welcome you with open arms!
You can get a copy of the schedule with the entry form from Bob Teasedale who lives at Glebe House, Main Street, email [email protected] or download one from our website at www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk/events.
 
With this dry weather, if you water the garden it’s better to do it less often and give it a heavy soaking, preferably in the evening as there’s less evaporation.  My plum trees have such heavy crops I pick a lot off as I walk the dogs around the orchard.  I try to space them about two inches apart but it never works out as the dogs get bored and I have to move on to another tree – besides a lot are too high to reach!
I might cut the branches down to pick them as some trees are so tall I would need a cherry picker to reach them.  At least it would be the right time to prune as all stoned fruit should be pruned when growing to avoid disease getting into the cut branches.
 
So DON’T FORGET THE SHOW – Saturday 19th August  – entries Thursday 18th 6-8 pm Villages Hall, or by post to me Four Acres, Hill Furze, WR10 2NB.  Staging of exhibits 9-11 on the day and the Show is 2-4pm with the obligatory cake and tea to whet your whistle, prize giving and auction at the end.
 
Pete Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub
01386 861438


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Coming soon…

10/5/2017

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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]

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January/February 2017

12/1/2017

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Being a creature of habit I start sowing seeds on Valentine’s Day.  Any earlier and my mean streak hits in and I don’t want to heat the greenhouse unnecessarily.  Peppers and tomatoes all go on the hot bed.  I have already put mousetraps baited with peanut butter and poison down to reduce the chance of feeding the little blighters.
 
If you are growing the tomatoes outside later on, don’t sow until the beginning of April – they would be too big to plant.  Pepper I put in 3.5” or 9 cm pots as soon as they have three leaves, and the same with tomatoes.  I still use peat-based compost as I haven’t found a decent substitute. 
 
I use clover multi-purpose for seeds with the addition of 25% vermiculite.  This opens the compost up and makes the transplanting of the seedlings easier as the compost is so open and falls away with breaking any roots.
 
For any geraniums that have overwintered I shake off a lot of the old compost and repot into the same size pot with fresh compost containing a good amount of slow release fertiliser.
 
In the garden it’s not too late to cut off the leaves of hellebores.   The reason for doing this is that they suffer from leaf spot and you don’t want it on fresh leaves and flower stems.
 
Any dogwood or willows that are grown for coloured stems can be cut down to ground level.  Buddleia can also be cut down to ground level if they have become straggly or to about two foot if you prefer to have some height.
 
Ornamental grasses can be cut down now.  A hedge trimmer makes light work if you have a few and while you’re at it you can also give the same treatment to Michaelmas daisies, Japanese anemones or other tall-stemmed perennials that haven’t already been trimmed.
 
A friend of mine who grows a lot of rose, prunes his with his hedge cutter and he’s a good showman so it can’t be that bad!
 
It will soon be grass cutting time, so it’s worth dragging the mower out of the shed and making sure it works.  If it is a rotary with a grass box, you can chew up all the ornamental grass pruning and old herbaceous stems, having chucked them on the lawn.  The bits will take up less room on the compost heap. Of course if it doesn’t start, then at least you have an opportunity to get it fixed in good time.
 
We have a busy schedule for 2017, starting with a talk on Wednesday 1st February on Design and Landscape Principles in your Garden by Rupert Keys and Ruth Gwynn of Keyscape Design who have won a number of RHS medals.  Our March event will see Neil Cook, Head Gardener at Hanbury Hall telling us how he created a garden from a blank canvas (we’ll have the opportunity to see it in the flesh on 23rd April with a club trip). 
 
Our Spring Show will be on a Sunday this year as a first – the 9th April; and highlights will include our Open Gardens on 18th June and Bob Flowerdew on Wednesday 5th April.  So look on our website, or get a programme from me or one of the committee members so that you can get those dates down in your diaries.
 
Pete Chamberlain
01386 861438
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk
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Pete's tips for December 2016 and January 2017

15/11/2016

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Leaves still keep falling – if on the lawn why not use the mower to collect them as it will chop them up small and you can still bag them up for leaf mould – a bit of grass won’t hurt.

You can make a ‘bin’ out of wire mesh to keep the leaves in as long as it’s in a sheltered spot or if you’re limited for space, just use plastic bin liners with holes punched through to let the air in.  Sprinkle with water and tie the tops, giving them a good shake before stacking them out of sight and leaving them be for a couple of years.  If you’re using a leaf bin remember to dampen the leaves occasionally.  Once the leaves reach a crumbly texture you can use them as mulch on your borders.

Time to sit in the warm and read the seed catalogues but beware descriptions don’t always ring true e.g.

A ravishing colour – it’s pink and it’s your wallet that’s ravished!
Pale delicate colour – It’s grey
Flowers could be higher – it’s short
Wonderful substance – tough as old boots
This met with a favourable response – we had no complaints
Interesting colour – floral art judge will heave
Makes wonderful bulbs – these sell well
An improved variety – a more profitable variety

Just read between the lines.  If they have the letters AGM after the name, you know it has been trialled by the RHS and is good.

Pruning is a winter job.  Don’t prune stone fruit – the time to do them is when they are growing vigorously.  Apples, pears, and blackcurrants want pruning as long as there is no frost about.  Always take out dead, crossing, lopsided branches first to give an open centre to let the air in.  If it’s old and neglected, never prune more than a third of the tree.

Blackcurrants fruit on new wood so try and remove old black branches. Gooseberries can have shoots shortened by a third and any dragging on the ground removed altogether.  Redcurrants fruit on old wood so unless they are too big, leave them alone.  Cultivated blackberries want old branches cut out and new ones tied in to give them plenty of room as they shoot in spring and fill up space.  Raspberries fall into two categories.  Autumn fruiting – cut to the ground in early spring; and standard varieties (June/July fruiting) – cut all the old and weak canes out.

A generous mulch of muck or harden compost will benefit all fruit trees and bushes and will literally repay you in spades!

Wishing you all the very best for the New Year and don’t forget to check what’s on our new programme at www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk

Pete Chamberlain

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Autumn is here…

14/9/2016

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October is the month for planting bulbs if you haven’t already done so. When planting daffodils remember that foliage should remain on until the end of May so don’t put them in the front of a border or formal lawn.  They will still show up at the back of the border because when they flower most herbaceous plants will be cut down or at least not be in leaf.
 
Tulips can be planted as late as November but most tulips will perish after flowering in the ground if left in.  The exception to this rule seems to be yellow ones as they appear to be tougher.  I like to plant tulips in containers as they seem to thrive there and can be moved into different positions, and once they have flowered, they can be put out of sight and something else put in their place. By buying different types of tulips you can have flowering pots from March to the end of May!  They can be combined with pansies, violas, and wallflowers for a stunning display, and for late tulips, forget-me-nots always look good.
 
Now is the time to put muck or compost on vegetable beds, and you don’t even have to bother to dig it in as worms and birds will all help incorporate it into the ground.  If you have enough, treat roses to a mulch of animal manure as they love it and respond well.  When you go around gardens run by the National Trust or RHS you will see all the rose beds are mulched with muck or compost.
 
Any vegetable gardeners should be ready to put broad bean seeds in.  My favourite panting time is the last week in October, but a week either side is okay.  If it isn’t a really cold winter, beans will be ready to harvest in May.  My winter greens on the allotment are all looking good.  Any yellowing leaves on the sprouts I will pull out to leave air around the lower buttons.
 
I have got my cannas and arum lilies in the greenhouse before the frosts get them.  I will stop watering now and leave them in the dry pots until next spring when I will get them out and repot in fresh material.  The old compost will go on my vegetable garden to build up humus.  Apart from checking my gladioli corms and dahlia tubers in store, I shall retire to my chair and browse the seed catalogues and decide what I am going to grow next year.
 
Our next two talks should prove interesting. First of all we have Dr. Ian Keith Ferguson talking about North American plants in British Gardens.  Dr. Ferguson is a widely travelled botanist and author, retired Deputy Keeper of the Herbartum at Kew Gardens and former Head of the Pollen Unit.  Our November meeting will see the return of lively speaker, Leila Jackson who came to our village two years ago – Leila will be talking to us about salvias - one of her specialities -  and other perennials.  Both events not to be missed and then we’re on countdown to our Christmas Dinner on December 7th – three dates for the diary then!
 
Pete Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.u
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Summer has arrived

12/7/2016

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Showing flowers and vegetables at a village show can be very rewarding in many ways – you may win a card or a cup, but even if you don’t, you will see good exhibits, learn a little,  and meet the people who grow them.

For flowers always read the schedule to make sure you have the right number of flowers, and whether they should be all the same variety or different. Make sure the foliage is clean and damage-free and try to make sure blooms are perfect and all the same size.  Don’t cut the blooms in a hurry on the morning of the show – but do it the day before and stand them in water in a col place.  Always cut extra so you can match them up.  Any surplus can go in a vase for the living room or to enter in a class of mixed blooms.
Vegetable classes ask for the exhibits to be clean and washed carefully.  Make sure that things like potatoes, carrots and beetroot are all the same size and check if the foliage has to be cut off to a certain length -  usually this is 75 mm (3 inches), and then tie with raffia  Shallots and onions are more specialist and they need to have a nice skin finish i.e. no broken skins, but don’t skin them too much.  Tying the tops can be a bit of a fiddle but it makes a good exhibit.  Shallots are usually exhibited in a saucer full of sand.  Onions can be exhibited on rings so that they stand upright on the show bench.  I tend to use wooden curtain rings but 12 mm lengths cut off toilet roll inners will do the job nicely or if you have he ones, use kitchen roll inners. Runner beans need to be the same length with a stalk (cut with scissors or secateurs).  Don’t show beans that have the seeds bulging out of the sides -  they need to be young and fresh.  

Tomatoes need to have the calyx left on and it wants to look fresh and green.  Judges seem to favour red tomatoes so I never enter any other colour. If there is a class for trugs, different coloured tomatoes make an eye-catchng display, along with peppers, potatoes and maybe squashes if they are not too big.

Our annual Summer Show is on Saturday 13 August at the Villages Hall, Broad Lane, so do come along to enjoy and/or take part.  You can download or read a copy of the schedule on our website at www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk/events

There is lots going on in summer and you may not be aware that apart from the National Garden Scheme, the Red Cross also run an open garden scheme and you can find out more here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/Get-involved/Events/Open-Gardens

Apart from that did you realise that Worcestershire has no less than 17 country parks, picnic places and countryside parks?!  We’re all hoping for an Indian summer, given the mixed climate we’ve been experiencing so we’ve all got a lot of catching up to do!
​

Happy Gardening!

Pete Chamberlain
www.bishamptongardeningclub.org.uk
email: [email protected]
Tel: 01386 861438

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