Potting Plants

Home-grown Peas. You really can’t beat them. I love the way the plant itself is so fresh and green. It’s the very epitome of Spring. The leaves are intricate and interesting. And catch the light beautifully.

The flowers are small and pearly white and hide from view like they’re shy of something.

And then one day you notice that there are not one, not two, not even three, four or five pods appearing. They’re everywhere. And the more you look the more you find. They’re all green and they make that squeaky noise when you touch them.

Peas – quite possibly the greatest vegetable of all.

These tips may seem commonsense but they are always worth repeating.

Tips For Good Hanging Baskets.

• Water early in the day ‘and or’ in the evening. Give plants a good drink regularly.
• After 4 weeks in the same compost the nutrients will be reduced and you should add liquid feed. I use half strength fertilizer with every watering.
• Many hanging basket plants will self deadhead but if you have zonal geraniums in the basket they will benefit from nipping the deadheads off.
• Turn the basket round, if one side near a wall for example, is growing less well.
• Look out for aphids on the soft lush growth.
• If you get unexpected gaps in leaf or bloom you can still  put in new plants.

Hanging Basket Holidays

• If you go on holiday you need to think about care of your baskets whilst away, even just for a weekend.
• Irrigation systems are available designed specially for hanging baskets with timed water release but they can be  expensive.  Buy a  Thompson Morgan Irrigation system from  this link.
• If you have a friend or family member coming to water the baskets make their life easy to encourage them to return.
  • Take the baskets down and group them together on a capillary mat if available.
  • Keep them out of the full sun if practical.
  • These actions help conserve water and make life easy for the time scarce watering friend.
• Give them a granular feed before you go away.
• Do not complain when you return or you can loose a good friend. No one looks after your prize possessions as well as you (think you) would.
• Read more on watering

Despite my garden being full to overflowing after the spring rain I have decided to create a new area for a Japanese Garden. This will be a long term project and I won’t rush it as I have on other projects in the past.

Action Plan for my Japanese Garden

• Read up on the various forms and the nature of Japanese gardens.



• Decide which area is going to be sacrificed to provide space for the Japanese garden.
• Draw a rough plan  on a piece of paper and list the features to be incorporated.
• Walk the patch and see if any plants need to be left in situ. I have a couple of Azaleas that I want to keep.
• List the gardening problems I have caused in the past that I hope to avoid on this project.

Past Problems to Avoid

• I generally leave too little space for paths and access.
• Forgetting  to label or record the location of a particular plant  has meant I do not give any individual treatment until it is too late.
• Many Japanese favourites are long lived such as Acer, Wisteria and Peonies so I must leave enough space for them to grow and develop.

Japanese Features

• Moss and greenery – I am collecting mossy rocks and treating others with moss food (old Yohgurt & soil)
• Asymmetrical shapes and layout will be a contrast to the straight lines of my formal borders.
• Preferring plants to structures in this garden I need to change and incorporate some formal structures short of a tea-house. Think about motion, water and space.
• The foreground, middle-ground and background need too be viewed several times from all vantage points before I move on to a detailed drawn plant.

Well it should be back to the Books for a while, a good pastime for Autumn when the workload reduces.

Phase Two Action Plan

• Bring the various plans together in a more detailed manner.
• Test the conditions of the site, ph, rain shadow, shade and nutrient levels.
• Clear the site except for the odd plant that is being saved. Relocate or give away surplus plants.
• Order the key trees and plants or visit specialist nurseries to acquire.
• Install the main structural features and any plants that need to be established before winter.
• Tell the family what I want for Christmas.

View from the other side of the proposed site. Minimum size 15′ by 10′ to be reconsidered.

Roses.

Beauty, dignity, fragrance and style. The rose is perhaps the Queen of flowers. A very rewarding plant to grow. Some of the modern cultivars have lost the beautiful old fragrance, but, the good news is that they are more disease tolerant. See: Tips on Growing roses

Sunflower

Simple, pure and fun. The sunflowers is a great flower for anyone to grow. It is hard to look at a sunflower and not be cheered a little. It is as if the sunflower is smiling at you. Tips on growing sunflowers here

Lupins. See: Growing Lupins

Sweet Peas:

Sweet peas come in many colours and offer a long flowering season, making a lovely cut flower. The fragrance helps the sweet pea to be one our most popular garden flowers.

See: Growing sweet peas

Pansy

Low growing, colourful pansies are one of the most common garden flowers because they can give such a long flowering season. One of the few annuals to flower even in the depths of winter. Great value, no wonder they are so popular!

Poppy

The humble poppy can grow amidst a mixed border. A simple unassuming plant which offers a great splash of colour.

Dahlia

Strong assuming plants which add bold colours and presence to any mixed border. A great range of colours and a flowering season to the first frosts is making this an increasingly popular plant.

Carnations. Pinks grown here to perfection.

Daffodil

Daffodils herald the start of the new gardening season. A great sight after the winter months. Easy to grow.

Tulip

Tulips

Second only to the daffodil in spring popularity. The tulip has one of the greatest range of colours of any plant.

See: Tips for growing tulips

Pelargonium

Often called geraniums, these regal pelargoniums are a wonderful plant. Protect from frost and waterlogging and they will flower throughout the summer.

See: Tips on growing pelargoniums

Lavender

A bed of lavender. See: Growing lavender

Lillies

Very popular due to their colour and fragrance

Iris

Iris

Growing Bearded iris

Lupin

• see: Lupin Growing

Delphiniums

See: Growing Delphiniums

Chrysanthemum

Related

• Common Garden pests
• Common Garden Problems

I was looking back through the archives and I don’t think I’ve ever done anything on how I plant Leeks. So, since I planted some this week I think now’s the time.

Firstly, I sowed some Leek seeds in modules in early Spring. They were in the coldframe but for the last month or so they’ve been in the sunny corner of the garden, just waiting until they are big enough to plant out.

I make a hole with my dibber, hold one of the Leeks and snip off about a third of the root system.

I do the same with the tops. I’m not sure whether this system is in vogue or not but I’ve done it for the past five years after one of the old guys at the allotment told me I should. I think it is to encourage more growth and to not over tax the small plant. But anyway it works for me.

Then I place the small Leek into its hole, and fill the hole with water. To my knowledge, no other vegetable is planted in this way. I like the fact that Leeks have their own special system. And I find it much more interesting than just bunging it in the ground. Makes me feel like a ‘real’ gardener!

This book says it all in the title so you don’t need any more Tips from Gardeners (as long as you purchase the book).

Quick Tips Anyway

• Experimenting, trialing and taking a chance is a part of fun gardening. Horticulture and farming take it more seriously but you can have fun and enjoyment from hobby gardening.
• It is better to tell someone there is no remedy than to delude them with a false one. If a plant is really bad get rid of it and grow something else.
• Do not covet your neighbors garden ask for a cutting or some seedlings.

Begonias from tubers are a very rewarding plant. If protected from frost, they are a relative easy plant to grow. They can remain relatively pest free and provide a long flowering season.

You can start plants as early in February in a heated greenhouse or indoors on windowsill. The best temperature is 18-22 degrees. They will start growing at lower temperatures but their growth will be slower.

Keep moist, but, not standing in water or overly damp as this can lead to rot and mildew problems.

Plant the top of the tuber just below the soil surface. If some tuber is showing no harm.

Which is the top of a Tuber?

You should be able to see where last year’s growth has been cut off. It is the convex side (dish shaped). You may also see the first buds for new shoots.

When the first shoots appear, make sure the plant is rotated if on a windowsill to get a well rounded plant.

The begonias can grow quickly and so might outgrow their first 3 inch pot. Pot on to five or seven inch pots, before they are ready to be hardened off and planted outside.

Staking Begonias

Some upright begonias will need staking to tie in the leaves.

Growing Begonias Outside

Begonias will do well in most sunny spots. Ideally they prefer a bit of shade from mid day sun. However, if this is not possible, just keep well watered during dry spells. For best flowering displays, use a high potash (tomato) liquid feed. If fed, watered and dead headed they can offer a very long flowering season.

Storing Begonias

When foliage starts to yellow and die back in October, cut of foliage, lift from ground and dry in newspaper. Sprinkle some anti rot powder on the tuber and make sure they are stored in a dry, frost free environment. It is worth checking every month or so for any sign of rot. As soon as you spot a tuber with signs of rotting. Discard in refuse bin.

Related

• Tuberous Begonias
• Begonia Floral Show
  
  
• Begonias at Thompson & Morgan
• Tuberous Begonia at BBC