Gardening

Edition Twenty Six - May 2008

There has been a benefit to the wintry weather we endured during April, and that is the long flowering season for daffodils.  I have never seen such a good and long display locally...

But generally it was a damp and cold month without many good gardening days, and friends who have a garden centre report that sales are well down. However, during the last week in April the weather warmed up and a few sunny days saw the local gardens being lovingly tended by happy looking gardeners!

An important seasonal reminder about safety in the garden

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World famous seed company Thompson & Morgan opens its Trial Grounds to the public for the 15th consecutive year on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th July 2008, between 10am and 4pm, at its headquarters in Poplar Lane, Ipswich, Suffolk.

This is a great opportunity for keen home gardeners to be the first to view some of Thompson & Morgan’s New & Exclusive 2009 Season flower and vegetable varieties growing among the company’s own display beds and trial grounds.

See here for full details.

Jobs for the month

House plants

You can still take cuttings from many of your houseplants during May, but first look up in your gardening book to see if it is the correct time of year for cuttings of your particular specimens. 

Be vigilant this month for house plant pests such as mealy bug and red spider mite... I bought a house plant a couple of years ago that unbeknown to me was harbouring mealy bug.. This rapidly spread to other plants and I had a difficult job eliminating them..

Bedding Plants and hardy annuals

The hardy annuals you have sown directly onto the soil should be up this month, but you need to watch that weeds don't take hold and smother the flower seedlings.. Thin the seedlings out if you think they look too crowded.. Bedding plants should be growing strongly under cover and pricked out into their growing trays. Keep them well watered and covered with fleece at night if frost is expected.. Plant up your hanging baskets early this month, mixing water retaining gel and plant food in with the compost, and keep them in the greenhouse initially to grow on. 

By the second week in May all the bedding plants and hanging baskets should be put outside in the garden to harden off, but again do take care that a sudden night frost doesn't kill them all off.. Bring them in to the greenhouse at night if need be..

Lawns

Having raked all the debris out of your lawn either with a rake or an electric scarifier, you now need to give it a 'weed and feed' to eliminate the rest of the moss, kill the weeds and green up the lawn.. You can use a spreader for granules on larger lawns, or use 'weed and feed' in liquid form with a built-in sprinkler, for smaller lawns.. Take care not to miss bits because a light and dark green striped lawn looks decidedly odd!

Shrubs

Prune out any frost damage from affected evergreen shrubs and trim if necessary: cut back tender shrubs and hardy Fuchsia after danger of frosts has past. Prune spring-flowering shrubs after flowering.  

Clip evergreen hedges and, if not too woody, shredded clippings can be added to the compost heap. (Not holly hedges though, because the pointed tips of the leaves take years to die down and you will be forever pricking your fingers when gardening) Prune overcrowded stems of Clematis montana once flowering has finished. Ensure newly planted trees and shrubs do not dry out. Take softwood cuttings of deciduous shrubs this month and finally check roses for signs of pests and damage.

Greenhouse

At this time of year all your greenhouse plants can very quickly be lost due to overheating or sudden frosts in an unheated greenhouse.

Move conservatory plants outdoors during warm days but bring back inside if cold nights are expected.

Inspect plants for red spider mite and whitefly and control with appropriate treatments. Apply coolglass to the outside of the glass to prevent temperatures from soaring.  Use the hosepipe (or watering can if there is a hosepipe ban in force) to thoroughly dampen down your greenhouse to improve humidity..

Vegetables

If you haven't grown any vegetable seeds and can't really be bothered, yet fancy some home grown veggies, have a look in your local garden centre, where you can buy as little or as much as you want, of many varieties of outdoor and greenhouse vegetables; all ready grown on to a decent size.. All you need do is re-pot them, water and feed them... Try growing a pepper plant, chilli or cucumber in your greenhouse...

Garden Ponds  

It is still not too late to have a pond `spring clean`  or to make it safe for any visiting children that either you or your neighbour might have, see here..  Keep your pond free of blanket weed by lifting it out with a stick or a rake, but take care not to puncture the pond lining if it is butyl, and of course mind the livestock... Increase the quantity of food you give your pond fish this month.. The general guide to quantity is that any food left floating on the surface after about ten minutes is surplus, so you can easily gauge how much they need..

Wildlife

Take care when you are pruning in the garden that you don't disturb any nesting birds.. Continue putting out food for the birds, but not bread or other food as it will attract rats to your neighbourhood! This can be a distressing time of year when some fledgling birds get separated from their parents. Whilst it is admirable to try to save them, they very rarely survive because we can't feed them the constant supply of bugs that their parents do.. Another problem this time of year is birds flying into windows and killing themselves, because they just don't see the glass.. I now paint marks on the greenhouse windows with a solution of coolglass that seems to work because last year we had no deaths.