August brings the sheaves of corn, then the harvest home is borne
It is at this time that I see the garden slightly begin to flag. As many plants have been blown about with these heavy rain showers and winds or their job for this year has been done. Well not to dispare, keep watch for your ripening fruit, plums, apples and late raspberries all fruit heavily, and at this time may be more rewarding. Keep checking the vegetable patch for pests and treat accordingly, with this heavy rainfall the ‘slug attack’ could be on. Why not take a look at your favourite summer plants, take a few cuttings to grow over winter in the greenhouse or on a warm windowsill, increasing your plants for next spring at a fraction of the cost! Now is a great time to access your lawn and take the necessary action. My top tip is to keep dead heading roses as they will bloom until the first frost appears.
July brings cooling showers, strawberries and gully flowers!Rain, rain go away come again another day! We all were needing rain for our gardens but thats enough now thank you very much. This is a time which presents opposite problems to the start of the year, when gaps are all too apparent. Now many plants are fighting for space. This is a great opportunity to take note of what will need moved and where it could be moved to, in Spring. Take photographs of the borders to help create a plan. With dry spells water lawns to avoid stress on them. Continue to cut back and dead head herbaceous and bedding, encouraging a second flush.
June, brings tulips, lilies, roses fills childrens hands with posies
What a fantastic month we have had so far, clear bright skies and sunshine! June is a particularly exciting time of the year as we now watch our herbaceous borders fill up with blooms that add colour and interest.
Some of jobs the jobs for this month include keeping an eye on growing plants and staking or tying up when needed.
Remember to tie in climbing plants, this will encourage bud growth along their length. Spraying roses with a systemic fungicide/insecticide to eradicate blackspot, powdery mildew and rust. Puting out hanging baskets and continually watering – even when we have had a spell of rain. A good boost for the flowers is to feed weekly with tomato food. Congested clumps of irises can be lifted, divided and replanted, plant the rhizomes fairly close to the surface of the soil. Lupins and delphiniums can sometimes provide a second flowering period so cut away the dead flower stems and hopefully this will introduce new flowers. You can prune spring-flowering shrubs when all signs of flowering have finished, take out any woody stems and keep controlled in size and shape.
May’s a month of happy sounds, the hum of buzzing bees…my spring garden!
Gardening during the month of May, I feel, is rather exciting! We have sown many seeds in the veg garden and we watch with excitiment to see what pops up out of the soil...if you have chosen to start some of your veg indoors prior to planting, start to gradually harden off and then plant out. At all times keep watch for slugs and snails...they may nibble all your hard work over one day if your not careful, put in place some traps filled with beer and use pellets scattered around plants. Make up hanging baskets and tubs with seasonal bedding, herbs, or even strawberries in a basket work well too. Keep indoors if you can, until the end of the month and by that time they will have filled out beautifully!
April sunshine, April showers, April gardening is such fun!
April is really such a busy month in our gardens, lots of sowing means lots of crops to harvest and enjoy not only in the vegetable garden but for cut flowers too. This month all seed potatoes must be put in with earlies going in now and maincrop nearer the end of the month. If you have not sown your own tomatoes, why not pop along to you local garden centre and pick up a plant or two; take care though, keep indoors until May if your greenhouse is unheated. Plant up dahlia tubers, I like to start mine in pots, then either take from the pot and plant out, or just sink the pot into the ground. My experience with dahlias is that that the slugs love them and just giving the tuber a wee head start in a pot helps so much. Now is a good time to divide early spring flowering bulbs. Improving the soil with compost and well-rotted farmyard manure will do the world of good in borders and beds.
March, March wonderful March! Spring is jumping up all around. Narcissi, hyacinths, tulips and wallflowers are beginning, at last just pushing into flower. This is the perfect time to be in the garden, so listed below are some essential jobs for this month; if the weather stays cold, start veg seedlings off in trays and modules undercover. As the ground warms up plant onion sets and shallots. Complete rose pruning, removing any deadwood. Now is a good time to cut back ivy especially from around gutters and windows. Dividing and replanting overcrowded perennial plants. Early potatoes can be planted – but protect from frost. If early crops have been sown in the greenhouse, keep an eye for damping-off. Well I do hope the sunshine continues, but remember it is still very cold so take care if you decide plant outdoors…frosts might still be lurking around!
January brings snow, ice and sparkling covered trees…Chilly, chilly!! Right now my gardening outdoors has taken a back seat whilst in the greenhouse I have been tidying up. If you have had heavy snowfall, carefully brush it off conifers and evergreen plants to prevent the weight breaking any branches and continue looking forward to longer, warmer days! If like me, your garden is covered with snow and frost then it is best at this time, to try to keep off the beds as walking over them can easily destroy the soil structure. If you require to walk on the beds try using some old planks. When the time for getting outdoors arrives again continue planting dormant shrubs and trees in January/February, and check that any newly planted shrubs have not been lifted up by the winter frosts. Happy New Year fellow gardeners!
December in the garden may bring shorter days but there is still plenty to do…if we can catch a dry spell! I have just spent time on my compost bins, forking them through to allow the unrotted, larger matter to break down. If your compost bin is very dry, try adding some green matter but if very wet you want to add brown matter. This is also a good time to spread your compost, mulching over the borders, ideally a thick layer of around 2inches is good, but if you are short, a thinner layer will still provide cover and nutrients for the roots below. Potted shrubs should be protected in an unheated greenhouse otherwise may die from dehydration or root death if it is severely cold. This is the perfect time to plant any hedging trees or shrubs, try and do this before the ground hardens.
For more hints and tips on composting go to the links page at the bottom!
I look outdoors to a wet and dull day…but my spirits are lifted as I spot a little robin nibbling at the feeder. Many of us like to cut back our herbaceous plants and fruit trees at this time, but I like to leave all this to the spring as it provides the birds with seeds to nibble on during the cold winters and gives us something to look at especially when the frosts land on them. A good job to do at the moment is to bring in any planters that may not survive the cold winters, put them in the greenhouse or shed and if they cannot be moved wrap them in bubble wrap. Winter is not all doom and gloom…plant out bright winter bedding, such as ornamental cabbages, pansies, cyclamen and heathers. These can be made up in hanging baskets if you have a sheltered position to hang them.
October, grey October brings the fruit the sportsmen then begin to shoot
The first day of October, a sunny and crisp day!…A good gardening day! This month in the vegetable garden be sure to lift beetroot, carrots and if you have any left, potatoes, store in a frost free, dry spot. It is also a good time to divide rhubarb crowns. Dividing many herbaceous plants is also on my list, this will not only help the plant, but it will provide you with lots of multiples to either replant and keep continuity running through the border or you might like to give a little bit to your friends. Pick remaining apples and pears, store in wooden trays. I would probably expect to get a last lawn cut around the end of the month, a high setting will ensure no damage is caused. If you are going to be planting any hedging plants, then now is the time to start researching the best plants, sizing, calculating the number required and preparing the area. If you have not already started planting your bulbs then now is a good time, narcissus and crocus should really be going in as soon as possible. Enjoy!
September time!
Will it rain or will the sun shine…we just never know. One minute I am working away quite the thing, the next I am running for cover. Late September is the perfect time to turn your attention to the lawn. Renovate established lawns by scarifing vigorously to remove debris/thatch, spike to allow air into the soil and allow surface water to drain away.
Clear away faded summer bedding plants and plant out pansies, wallflowers and other spring bedding plants, bulbs are now available in the stores so if you fancy, underplant your pots with tulips. Look out for the shorter varieties for the pots, this is a good choice rather than the taller varieties which often get blown about.
