THE GARDEN

Spring is just around the corner and plants are ready to burst into new leaf and growth. Roots of established plants will start to draw up moisture as leaves unfurl and they will need to transfer plant nutrients to the leaves so that sunlight can be turned into energy. Feeding is the order of the day.

Now is the time to feed flowering shrubs, perennials and climbers so they can draw on a reserve of balanced nutrients to produce strong healthy growth and plenty of flowering potential. Number one choice for flowering plants is a balanced feed that has been developed for flowers or roses. Miracle-Gro Rose Plus is a mini-granule that is clean and easy to apply and contains extra magnesium for healthy looking foliage. Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed comes in a handy yellow dispenser and contains a slow release plant food so that the plants are fed slowly and surely over the following three months.

Complete pruning of bush roses with a sharp pair of secateurs. Take out any old or dead branches and cut back the remaining stems by about a third. To help the plants recover from this pruning feed around each plant with a handful of Miracle-Gro Rose Plus so that it has the reserves to grow strong shoots with dark green leaves.

Doing everything to keep your roses clean and disease free is sensible - this will reduce the amount of spraying necessary and the time you need to tend these beautiful and highly productive plants. Collect any of last year's rose leaves that show signs of blackspot disease, bag them up and dispose of them at your local recycling plant. To protect the new foliage from the same disease start spraying the plant as the leaves unfurl and again a couple of weeks later. Use a rose treatment that contains a systemic fungicide such as RoseClear 3, RoseClear Gun! or FungusClear. These early sprays will help prevent the blackspot disease spores getting into the plant and reduce loss of foliage later on in the year. After feeding and spraying spread a mulch layer of Levington Mini Chipped Forest Bark over the root area of your roses. This will retain soil moisture at the roots and provide an attractive surface to the bed.

Plant clematis and other climbers now, so they have time to cover fences and trellis before bursting into bloom. To help reduce the fatality of clematis wilt, a mysterious disease that causes shoots to die, plant deeply. Make sure the original level of compost in the container is at least 8cm (3in) below your new soil level. To ensure there is plenty of moisture at root level plant well away from brick walls that tend to suck moisture from the soil and cover the root area with a thick mulch of Levington Mini Chipped Forest Bark or a paving slab.

Pansies will produce many more flowers during spring if they are fed occasionally with Miracle-Gro Plant Food and the seed pods are removed after flowering. Pansies seem to be prone to greenfly and blackfly attack at this time of the year, perhaps because there are so few ladybirds around to control their numbers naturally. A BugClear Gun! is the chemical answer giving quick control that allows the plants to flower more abundantly. If you prefer a more organic solution try Natures Answer Natural Pest Control which contains pyrethrins.

Snap off seed heads of daffodils and tulips after blooming has finished. A few feeds with Miracle-Gro Plant Food applied over foliage and around roots will encourage strong build up of next years flower buds deep in the bulb.

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FRUIT AND VEGETABLES

For early crops of tasty tomatoes, it's time to sow seed indoors. The plants will then be ready for onward planting in a cool greenhouse in May or Gro-Bag outside in June. Selecting a variety is a matter of taste and culinary usage. Nowadays supermarkets sell cherry, beef steak and standard sized tomatoes but none will match the flavour of home grown fruit that is picked at full ripeness with the warmth of the sun still deep within the luscious flesh.

Cherry sized tomatoes are very popular and there is little to beat Sungold or Gardeners Delight for flavour, although the skins do tend to split if left too long on the vine. Claims that newer F1 varieties remain firm on the vine even if left for up to 2 weeks after they have turned red are worth testing. These non-split varieties include Nectar (cherry) and Venessa (medium). Alicante is a good flavoured average size tomato for both greenhouse and open garden situation.

Outside prepare the ground and sow parsnips, carrots, turnips, summer cabbage and broad beans. The soil for root vegetables is best left without the addition of organic matter or manure as this can encourage forking of the main root. All soils for all crops will benefit from a dressing of fertilizer raked into the surface. Nowadays controlled release plant foods help provide bigger and better plants for very little extra cost. As they feed every day when the soil is warm and the plants are growing actively, these modern plant foods match the needs of the plants with the right amount of plant food release for the roots. There are a couple to choose from. One dressing of Miracle-Gro Shake & Feed (14-14-14) will feed your plants for 3 months, although Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food or Osmocote Controlled Release Plant Food will feed your crops all season from just one application.

Annual weeds and grasses will be emerging at the same time as fruit trees, bushes and canes burst into growth. To reduce the competition without disturbing the often shallow rooted fruit canes use Weedol to kill these weeds just a few days before giving the plants a good feed. Any fertilizer is better than nothing, although Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Plant Food will keep on feeding throughout the growing season from just one application.

After feeding cover the root area with a mulch layer of organic matter. Even the best well rotted garden compost seems to spread weed seeds, which is why tidy gardeners prefer to use a sterile material like Levington Mini Chipped Forest Bark or Levington Cocoa Shells. These mulch layers not only looks good but also hold in soil moisture and help to prevent more weed growth. The Cocoa Shells also add a gentle fragrance to the garden and are said to help deter slug activity. Dog owners should already be aware that cocoa shells, like ordinary chocolate, contain an ingredient that is potentially harmful if eaten by dogs. To be on the safe side dog owners are recommended to choose an alternative tree bark mulch.

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IN THE GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY

It's time to transplant seedlings and plug plants into larger quarters so they have room for roots and stems to develop. Select clean pots or trays and fill with a quality compost formulated especially for this stage of growth. A peat-based growing compost such as Levington Multipurpose Compost or Miracle-Gro Plant & Gro guarantees to get your young plants off to a flying start. Or you can use Levington Natures Way Peat-Free Compost if you prefer not to use peat in your growing plans.

Only handle the seedlings or plugs by the leaves avoiding pinching the stem as this can kill the plant.

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THE LAWN

Many petrol mowers, I find, are tuned to run on leaded or lead replacement petrol (LRP). And they've been working happily for many years without problems. But now that my local garages have stopped selling these fuels for cars my petrol Hayter mower with a Briggs and Strutton engine needs modification. The work entails a de-coke to the cylinder head and a change of spark plug so that the engine runs sweetly with lead-free petrol. It's now time to get the machine serviced and the work carried out before mowing becomes a regular weekly job.

Mow the grass on a dry day setting the cutting blades high so that the shock is minimised. Check the lawn for moss, especially in shaded areas or low lying places that will encourage its spread. Most lawns will benefit from a high nitrogen plant food tonic that will help the grass plants to green up, encourage the lawn to thicken up and generally spring into action. There are plenty to choose from.

Straight lawn foods such as Evergreen Lawn Food or Scotts Lawn Builder will feed and green for many weeks. Both contain some long lasting nitrogen so there is less risk of scorch. As some of the nitrogen is released slowly this keeps the lawn richer and greener for up to 8 weeks.

If moss is present, use a lawn fertilizer that contains ferrous sulphate mosskiller. For excellent results use EverGreen Mosskil or Scotts Lawn Builder plus Moss Control for a richer greener lawn and effective moss control. After a couple of weeks the moss will have turned brown and can be raked up. If there are bare patches in the lawn where moss has taken over re-seed with Evergreen Shady Lawn Grass Seed as this blend contains no rye grass yet is shade tolerant.

Broad-leaved weeds are not normally a great problem this early in the season but if dandelions, daisies and the like are harming the look of your lawn, apply one of the products above and then apply Verdone Extra in April about 3 weeks after the fertilizer has been applied.

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ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
BugClear™ and BugClear Gun!™ contain bifenthrin. FungusClear™ and FungusClear Gun!™ contain penconazole. RoundupGC, Roundup Ultra 3000, Roundup Tough Weedkiller Ready to Use and Tumbleweed Original Extra Strong Gel contain glyphosate. Roseclear® 2 contains bupirimate, pirimicarb and triforine. RoseClear® Gun!™ contains bifenthrin and flutriafol. SlugClear™ Mini Pellets contain metaldehyde. Spotless® contains carbendazim. Verdone® Extra contains fluroxypyr, clopyralid and MCPA. Weedol® contains diquat and paraquat. Weedol® Gun!™ contains diquat.

®, ™, Miracle-Gro, and Scotts are trade marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates. Roundup is the registered Trade Mark of Monsanto Company.

GARDENING INFORMATION FROM The Scotts Company (UK) Limited

WRITTEN BY JOHN CLOWES

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