Lovely few hours in the garden today, (cant imagine how awful it must be not to have one). Things are flowering rather early though. This Morning Glory (Ipomoea violacea) seedling hasn't been planted out yet but has started to flower; sadly need to pinch the flowering stem out to encourage better growth. My annual Spanish Flag ( Ipomoea lobata) shouldn't even have survived an English winter but here it is flowering and filling the wigwam where I plan to put the sweet peas. My kitchen window box is looking lovely too. Inside the conservatory mother and baby Aeonium 'Zwartkop', looking longingly at the garden, but too early for them. As a club we are members of the RHS and get a monthly magazine, which is shared at monthly meetings. Unfortunately that can't happen so we are going to share some clippings from it but with full acknowledgement of the source.
From The race is on to Reforest Britain: Around 24.7 million trees were planted in Britain in 2019, the majority being in Scotland.Current pledges by other organisations: National Trust- 20mill across UK Water companies & partners 11mill in England National Forest 8.5mill in Midlands Northern Forest 50mill between Liverpool & Hull Woodland Trust pledge to giveaway 1mill. This forms part of a broader approach to tackle global warming; however, there is a downside in that most tree planting involves using single use plastic guards. There a number of ongoing trials including grants to get landowners to recycle the tree guards; using reduced plastic/recycled plastic or collecting guards once no longer needed to support the tree. The National Forest prefers to use metal mesh. RHS magazine 4/21 Why include this article? planting trees is a great leap of faith in the future. Something we all need at the moment. . Other more scientific forecasts are available; but do other people have their own method of forecasting?- Do let us know.
Projected weather forecast for the next 6 months in 2020, discovered on a beautiful sunny walk this Sunday morning. I noted that the ash trees were in bloom, while the oak buds were barely breaking, ergo the next 6 months were going to be very wet. However with climate warming making the weather pattern very erratic, this will make for sudden very heavy downpours rather than long periods of wet weather. This was confirmed by twinges in my left shoulder & right knee Before planting, you need to ‘chit’ your potatoes. This involves letting the potatoes grow shoots, which will give you a bigger potato crop. Place seed potatoes in trays or egg cartons with the end that has the most eyes uppermost. Stand in a cool, light spot until 1-2cm long shoots have formed. This could take up to six weeks. Below are two ways of growing in bags: In the past, growing potatoes in bags has always involved the traditional 'earthing up' process – planting your spuds in minimal compost at the bottom of the bag and adding more as the plant grows. Roll the sides of the potato bag down so it’s just under a third of its usual height. Add 10cm peat-free compost to the bottom of the bag and place three to five chitted potatoes on the surface. Cover with another 8-10cm of compost and water well. When the shoots have grown to around 8cm, ‘earth them up’ by covering them with another 10cm of compost. Do this every couple of weeks, gradually rolling the bag back up to its intended height. This stops the potatoes from being exposed to light and developing green patches. I But while some gardeners continue to swear by this method of topping up, recent trials at Thompson and Morgan show it’s not necessary as long as you make sure your spuds are protected from the sunlight by the soil and foliage. Remember – green spuds are inedible and you should discard them. Here’s how to plant your potato bags: •Fill an 8 litre potato bag with quality multipurpose compost to about 2.5cm (1") below the rim. •Carefully plunge a single chitted potato tuber into the compost with the shoots pointing upwards, to a depth of 12cm (5") from the soil surface. Gently cover the tuber with compost. •Place the potato bag in a bright, frost free position, water regularly, and wait for your plants to grow. •Feed potato plants every other week with potato fertiliser and water the bags whenever the compost shows signs of drying out. Good luck whichever way you try and don't forget to post picture of your harvest. Our Garden in March – Our many spring highlights included:-
Garden free of lying water in some part or other for the first time since early October! Weather has been great for gardening during the last 3 weeks and we have been able to do the postponed winter work/projects and more – never been so up to date! A sparrow hawk bathing in the pond . Long tailed tits finished their 4 week nest building effort in the centre of a spikey Berberis shrub. A marvellous and unique domed structure of moss, lichen and feathers all woven together with spiders webs. Frogs finishing their spawning activities mid month. Evidence of one or more hedgehogs in the garden. The opposite of a highlight – its spells much trouble and damage over the coming months – the first sign of a mole in the garden. Really bad news. A pair of mallards visiting the pond regularly. Thoughts for April The long tailed tits will finish laying their clutch of 6-8 eggs (probably one per day) and they will then be brooded for about 15 days before hatching. They will fledge about 14 days later. Will our annual but brief Blackcap visit happen? (A warbler migrant on passage from Africa to a better nesting habitat) The full range of invertebrate life will start up in the pond. Newts activity and egg laying will be in full swing. After 2 weeks of daily sessions we are now running out of things to do in the large back and front gardens. Might have a ‘social isolation and exercise’ session doing the Community Centre gardens. Might even resort to the item that has been on our ‘to do’ list for the last 20 years – sorting out and clearing some of our huge loft space - we must be desperate. Topical Tips Deadheading Daffodils. Do not tie up or cut off the leaves and stems after flowering. This action may reduce the amount of flowering you will get next year. Simply cut off the flower/seed head and let the stems and leaves die off naturally over the next 6 to 8 weeks. Prune your early spring flowering shrubs as soon as flowering is over. If in doubt Google for pruning advice or get back to us by sharing your query. Lift and divide your congested clumps of hardy perennials. Discard the old and woody centre pieces, replant some of the new pieces, pot up and leave some outside a friends door (at a safe distance of course) and save some for the BG Club plant table when we resume meeting. Conundrums As garden centres are shut, what do we do with those pots that are without spring bedding plants? Could you use some of those lower growing hardy perennials you have lifted and divided (see above), is it too late to route through your old seed packets for any suitable annual flower seeds. What are your ideas? Nature Notes Pairs of Buzzards calling overhead and the occasional Kestrel calling from the countryside behind our garden. One of earliest spring migrants making its voice heard in greater numbers, the Chiffchaff. Dawn chorus steadily growing in volume but sadly only a mere shadow of its volume from my childhood. Ash Trees just beginning to flower – if you are out for your daily walking exercise allowance, see if you can spot the different male and female flowers on the leafless stems. Looking forward to arrival of all the other spring migrants – hobbies, swallows, swifts, martins, whitethroats and other warblers. Wish we could get to our regular haunt of the Kent coast, countryside and the nightingales – I’m afraid it puts Warwickshire countryside and range of wildlife in the shade. Good to end with a potentially controversial remark which may invite responses! Take care Paul and Jan Hello all,
We do hope that you are coping with the isolation in this difficult time. Some committee members have been phoning members to see if they are ok. If you have been missed and would like help, such as a friendly phone call or practical help, please reply to this email, stating that there is a need. DO NOT give details of the need because of confidentiality, one of our committee will contact you. Issues regarding the Club: At the risk of stating the obvious, the next few meetings are cancelled. Hopefully, the next meeting will be on Wednesday 19th August. This will be confirmed/changed nearer the time. The trips for May 2020 and July 2020 (Ashwood Nurseries and RHS Harlow Carr) have been cancelled. Anyone who has booked a place on these trips will have their place protected for the new 2021 dates: Thursday 6th May 2021 - Ashwood Nurseries Saturday 24th July 2021 - RHS Harlow Carr For those people who would rather have a refund, this will be available at the next monthly meeting. The trip on Saturday 31st October 2020 to Bodenham Arboretum is scheduled to go ahead. £15 members, £20 non members, tickets on sale at August's meeting. You will be updated if this situation changes. To help fill the gap left by no meetings: Check out our facebook. We hope that those of you who now have extra leisure time, will enjoy working and resting in your garden. Take care and stay safe, Bulkington Gardening Club Committee If you no longer wish to receive emails from Bulkington Gardening Club, email back, asking for your email address to be removed from the contact list.. Depending on the type of potato you are growing, you’ll have crops from May to October. Home-grown potatoes, particularly maincrop potatoes, will store well for many months in a cool but frost-free place. Only store perfect tubers, removing any showing signs of damage, and don’t wash them before storage. All light must be excluded to avoid potatoes turning green and poisonous. Hessian or thick brown-paper sacks are available for the job. Check crops in store regularly, removing any rotten ones.
Potatoes are not too picky, but if you choose a good garden site to grow them, then the plants will do ok. First, where in your garden gets full sun for 6 to 8 hours per day. Avoid areas with full shade, your potatoes wont be so happy. Experts disagree about growing potatoes from sprouted shop bought potatoes, and many recommend you only grow from certified seed potatoes. There are still online sales, you could split a bag with neighbours as most people don't have room for all the seed potatoes. However, in these difficult times its ok to try some sprouted store potatoes rather than throw them away. Treat it more as an experiment as you probably wont get such a good yield. Whether you are growing in the ground or in pots or sacks its best to start off by chitting the potatoes- put the potatoes in an old egg box, put it somewhere light and not too cold.. We will be shortly posting a simple guide to growing potatoes in pots or even old compost bags so watch this space. |
AuthorThis is where we share funny little stories from our gardening life. Archives
June 2020
Categories |