Spring is just around the corner and now that the clocks have gone forward we can enjoy some extra time in the garden after work. With the sun setting at around 7.30 each evening there is no excuse for allowing the garden to look untidy or the lawn to look uncared for. Time spent now sowing seeds and protecting new growth will be rewarded later in the year.
FLOWER BORDERS
Outside it's time to sow seed of hardy flowers such as alyssum, aquilegia, clarkia, cosmos, cornflower, Larkspur, lavatera, Californian poppy (Eschscholzia), pansies and sweet peas. If weeds are taking over the soil surface you could hoe the area to try to kill them off before sowing your flower seeds. More effective is to treat the weeds with either Weedol 2 or the ready-to-use Weedol Gun! In damp weather hoeing could just move the weeds to a different spot whereas a weedkiller will see these annual weeds off in just a few days. You don't even have to wait for the weeds to die - just wait for the spray to dry on the weed leaf and you can sow your flower seed without another worry.
Few plants can stop you in your tracks like a thriving rhododendron or azalea in bloom. Covered in flowers, the display is breathtaking. Like other ericaceous plants (camellias, heathers and citrus fruits) they need an acid soil topped up with a regular feeding programme containing all the essential nutrients so that they can produce a stunning display year after year.
Unfortunately if the soil contains lime then these ericaceous plants cannot thrive - the growth slows down and the leaves turn yellow as the plant cannot take up iron to maintain green, food producing leaves. Anyone can stop yellowing leaves with a special plant food for lime-hating plants such as Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food. It feeds the plant and provides iron in a special form that can easily be taken up by the plant to help prevent leaf yellowing. Just wet the leaves and soak the soil in spring and summer and you'll create plants with beautiful blooms and a deep rich leaf colour. Remember that while you are safe-guarding expensive shrubs such as rhododendrons and azaleas there are others that will thrive with special feeding with Miracle-Gro Ericaceous Plant Food. Gardenia, honeysuckle, magnolia, acers and hydrangea all appreciate this feed and petunias both in the garden and in hanging baskets seem to grow stronger and more vigorous.
Protect the newly emerging shoots of herbaceous perennials such as delphiniums, peonies, lupins, hosta, dicentra and aquilegia from slugs with SlugClear Advanced Pellets. Sprinkle the pellets evenly around the plants in the evening and by early morning you will be able to see how big the surface population of slugs really was. Alternatively why not use a liquid slug killer such as SlugClear that leaves no visible residues on the soil or plants. This liquid slug killer is the control choice for many gardeners with pets that roam the garden as it gets below the soil surface to control the slugs and snails where they are hiding.
Roses will be producing new shoots and red foliage which are vulnerable to greenfly attack early in the growing season. Keep any eye out for the first appearances of these sap-sucking pests as they can multiply at an alarming rate. If you see greenfly on your roses spray the whole lot with a combined systemic fungicide and contact insecticide such as RoseClear 3 or the ready-to-use RoseClear Gun! Not only will you be preventing the weakening and twisting of growth caused by the greenfly you will be giving internal protection to the plant against the infection and spread of rose blackspot disease and mildew.
Timely Tip
Prune back shrubs such as forsythia and winter jasmine that have flowered already this spring. You can also cut back stems of other shrubs such as buddleia, ceratostigma and hardy fuchsias that will flower later on in the summer. All will appreciate a feed with Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed or Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food.
IN THE GREENHOUSE
Tomatoes sown during March in a heated greenhouse will be ready for planting in Levington Gro Bags by the end of the month. Buy fresh bags from your garden centre early and store them in the greenhouse for at least a week so that they warm up before planting. Good quality growing bags will provide enough nutrients for the first six weeks of growth and by then the first flower truss should have formed. Plan to start feeding with Tomorite every week as soon as the first fruits have formed.Topical Tips
Young seedlings of tender bedding plants such as geranium, salvia, busy lizzy and petunia should be given extra room for roots and foliage growth. Prick out the seedlings into trays of a quality potting compost such as Miracle-Gro Plant & Gro or Levington Potting and Container Compost.
THE LAWN
Judging by the amount of grass seed sold each year, the British have not lost their love of lawns. Garden Centres and other retailers sell £5 million worth each year, so the myth that we are all erecting decking or paving patios is no longer true. Many more people are sowing grass seed and now is the ideal time to do the job.
Getting a fresh area of the garden ready for grass seed sowing is not difficult or time-consuming. Remove large stones and any other debris so that the surface can be firmed and levelled. If you ensure no hills or hollows at this stage of preparation then your lawn will be easier to mow and the visual impact will be improved. A top dressing of EverGreen Lawn Soil will not only level out the surface but will also improve and enrich soils. Because this dressing feeds the lawn, improves soil structure and encourages root activity your lawn will establish more quickly and evenly, providing a good green surface in only a few weeks.
Choose your grass seed with care, taking into consideration whether you want a fine decorative lawn or a hardwearing play area. You should read the packets carefully to see which offers the best lawn for you. The EverGreen range of grass seeds offers three different top quality mixtures.
If the lawn is basically decorative then you will need a mixture of fine-leaved species of grass called fescues and bents. Try Evergreen Fine Lawn Grass Seed which contains the right species without any ryegrass. In areas that are shaded by trees use Evergreen Shady Lawn Grass Seed which contains species that are shade tolerant and will put up with dry and infertile areas.
For most of us who want a hard wearing utility lawn Evergreen Multi-Purpose Grass seed contains a mixture of creeping red fescues and dwarf ryegrass that have been selected to contain the slower growing varieties that make lawn maintenance easier.
Not all grass seed is sold to create new lawns. Much of it is sold to over-seed existing lawns that have become thin and patchy due to wear and tear. Renovating an existing lawn isn't too difficult. Simply rake the lawn area so that you open up the soil surface to let air and moisture in and give the grass seed suitable places to germinate. A scattering of suitable grass seed over the whole area will revitalise an existing lawn, introducing new grass varieties that will make it thicker and more durable. Remember if the area is shady then EverGreen Shady Lawn Grass Seed will give best results in the long-term.
Timely Tips
Feeding the grass is an essential spring activity if the lawn is to be thick, green and healthy. Use either EverGreen Mosskil or EverGreen Lawn Builder plus Moss Control to give the grass an early boost and to get rid of any unsightly moss that may have spread during the winter. Rake out the dead moss about two weeks after treatment to let air and water back into the surface to encourage root growth.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Seed sowing should progress in earnest with a few seeds being sown each week for a succession of crops throughout the summer. Depending on the space available and your family's favourites sow early carrots, summer cabbage, parsnips, calabrese, peas, lettuce and spring onions.
Many garden soils have infections of club root disease which thickens and distorts the roots of the brassica family of vegetables and restrict growth to such an extent that they grow very slowly or even die. Unfortunately there is no chemical available for the amateur to prevent the disease which seems to last in the soil for decades, so its effect doesn't seem to fade away with time.
To grow sprouts, cabbage, swedes, turnips, calabrese or broccoli successfully you need to provide a block of clean compost at root level that is free of the club root disease. For me that means growing these vegetables from seed sown in Levington Seed & Cutting Compost and then transplanting them into individual pots of Levington Potting Compost. When the plantlets are big enough for planting out make a large planting hole about 15cm (6in) across and use Levington Potting Compost or any peat based compost to complete the planting. While the roots of each plant may venture outside this compost root base and become affected by club root, there are enough clean fine roots within the compost to make sure the brassica plant grows good and strong to maturity.
Topical Tips
Even if you have no separate plot for vegetables you should be able to find some space in between shrubs and flowers to sow some dwarf vegetables. Quick maturing veg such as Rondo carrots and red leaved beetroot can be sown in the flower bed where they will add some decorative foliage to your flower display. See that the soil is freshly charged with nutrients by applying Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed evenly on the soil prior to sowing seed or planting out seedlings.
PATIO GARDENING
Now that spring is officially with us we need to be sowing seeds of bedding plants and potting up seedlings so that flowering plants are big enough to be planted out at the end of May when the potential for frosts is over.
Choose a compost precisely designed for the job rather than a Multi-Purpose one. Whilst multi-purpose composts are great for many jobs, better germination can often be achieved with a specific Seed compost because they have a lower nutrient level that does not inhibit the sensitive tiny roots of a newly germinating seedlings. Choose Levington Seed & Cutting Compost or Levington John Innes Seed Compost for the maximum germination of seeds. When they are big enough to handle, transplant them into individual pots or trays containing a potting compost so they have enough room to spread out. In this way you will be providing the ideal conditions and nutrients for maximum growth.
This year there are two new potting composts available from the Miracle-Gro people. Miracle-Gro Feed & Gro is designed for the final potting of tubs, pots and patio containers as it contains sufficient Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food to nourish your plants for up to 6 months. At the start it contains 40 per cent more nutrients than standard Multi-Purpose Composts so your plants are in a really rich potting compost that they will appreciate by growing bigger and better. The other new product is Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. This is an exclusive AquaCoir formula that protects against over and under-watering. It contains 100% more patented water retaining agent than standard composts to retain water for longer. It absorbs 20% more water and releases it to the roots as needed. This high quality growing medium is also enriched with Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food so that it feeds plants for up to 6 months.
Best of all are the amazing plant results obtained when using this compost. When compared with a standard Multi-Purpose compost, plants in the new Moisture Control Compost grew much bigger, had darker foliage and displayed many more flowers that were bigger. Not surprisingly this unique potting compost is ideal for pot plants, houseplants, hanging baskets and all patio tubs and containers.
Timely Tips
Weeds will be growing strongly on many patios and now is the best time to apply Pathclear 3 to see them off and prevent further seedling growth for the rest of the growing season.
ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
Murphy® Traditional Copper Fungicide contains copper oxychloride. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol Gun!™ contains diquat.® ™ and Miracle-Gro, Osmocote, Murphy, Plus, Levington and Scotts are Trade Marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates.
GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited
WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES
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