August Gardening News
It can’t be August already surely? There has been a mistiness to the passing days, that has smudged the detail and had many of us puzzling over what day of the week it is. With the gentle easing of lockdown we will see clearer shapes and the return of punctuating routines. Thank goodness for the garden, which has continued to grow undaunted and there is harvest to reap. I’ve picked courgettes and beans, there are plenty of tomatoes and a continuous supply of salad leaves. The greens have romped too, although the need to be vigilant with netting has never been more important. The first cabbage white butterflies are around and the pigeons cast a cursory glance each evening to see if anything has been left unprotected. The flowers have been good too and in particular I have to mention my foray into the new world of garden hardy Gerbera’s, which have been fantastic. With care the summer looks promising for gardeners. Do keep on top of dead heading, feeding and watering. The watering issue is particularly important, the ground still seems incredibly dry and sulky plants don’t perform well. So keep a watchful eye, watering modestly on a regular basis. If you do have spaces around, then you can be doing a bit of seed sowing. Salad crops will all germinate quickly as will Kohl Rabi and all will harvest in the autumn. I often talk about Kohl Rabi . It’s very easy to grow and raised primarily for it’s bulbous crown, which sits above the ground. It can be steamed, roasted or braised, included in stews and is terrific grated in Coleslaw. It’s a filler. If you don’t want to be sowing vegetable seeds, but do have space, then Chard, Perpetual Spinach and Spring Cabbage plants are all around now. Incredibly in readiness for the autumn planting, we are seeing wallflowers, winter pansies and some biennials offered. These early offerings are for over wintering really and whilst early planting will build good roots, there is no rush. If you do want to treat yourself to anything, bulbs are starting to land in centres and the early bird will get the best pick. And finally, if you find yourself in the mood for a day out, head off to the Welsh border at the top end of Herefordshire. We recently visited the garden at Hergest Croft in Kington, which spreads across 70 acres and it is truly stunning. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
The British climate doesn’t do half measures does it? Most notable through early June was the intensity of the sun. We all felt at ease about the planting, confident that the frost was left behind and then a fireball appeared in the sky and everything cooked. Any carelessness with watering saw things fry. Many hours were spent, just keeping things alive. Any late seed sowings were particularly vulnerable. Pea and bean seed shrivelled in the ground and late salad seedlings just fried. I had three goes at starting some summer lettuce, before I was able to celebrate success. Dedication to task has paid off and as June has rolled forward there has been some robust growth. The opportunity to sow seed continues and as we move through July. Perennials, biennials and vegetable seedlings can all be started, just think cool and set things off in pots and trays in a bit of shade. I try to sow perpetual spinach, spring cabbage and wallflowers in particular this month, lining up stock for autumn planting. Having identified that the gardening industry has (like so many) been chasing for stock, this year has seen a proliferation of quality in certain groups. I might have struggled to find fruit trees or rockery plants, but have seen some fantastic ferns and a delightful mixed range of big herbaceous plants. Do have a mooch about, there are some real treats. Recent sorties from the site have seen me buying Penstemons, heuchera and all manner of things from other centres for use in my own garden. A bit more maintenance for me and as the days roll on that becomes the keyword for gardeners. If the dry weather continues keep the blades up a bit on the mower to avoid scorching and keep things watered well. Feed summer bedding and vegetables, liquid Tomato food is particularly useful and easy to apply, it can be used on everything (it will really buck up baskets and containers). Keep dead heading as summer plants shouldn’t be wasting energy on seed production if you want them to perform until autumn and keep harvesting too. The first beans need picking, courgettes need to be cut quickly (you don’t need lots of marrows), the first potatoes will be ready and salads should be used before they bolt. And finally, check out the wildlife. The fields and hedgerows are bursting with life and I have never seen so many wild orchids. Nature always quick to upstage us. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
June Gardening News
April rolled into May and the treacherous weather continued with frost across 18 consecutive days eventually easing around the 10th. It was all very testing and damage was varied and widespread. I was really saddened by the demolition of the Magnolia blossom which had only just shown itself. I had Antirrhinums knocked back to two inch stumps by one particularly spiteful temperature drop. Most things do recover, though anybody with early beans or tomatoes will be replanting. It is always very chancy to have them in the ground before late May. But as we turn into June things change and we hope the weather will be more consistent or at very least less cold. It’s festival time, a jamboree, something of a free for all, when you can plant more or less what you like. Borders can be planted out with summer bedding, which with little extra work will bring joyous colour until October. There will be plenty to choose from too, with most centres still having a comprehensive selection and there are plenty of new introductions to look out for. Following in the wake of the success of Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ ( a gloriously tantalising red and white bow of a flower) the family has extended, the series running to include blue, purple, pink and salmon. Plants are all robust and prolific. Look out too for the new hardy border Gerbera’s which will are also offered in a wide range of colours and try your luck with Gaura. My favourite of last year, this graceful, arching plant is a joy, it’s branches dripping with pink shell like flowers. There are also some very good herbaceous plants around this year and I have been really sold on Irises, which I think are set to put on quite a show. Of course no sooner are we underway with one seasonal show, than we are considering the next. You can be sowing seed this month to raise your own winter pansies, wallflowers and biennials like sweet William. On the vegetable front there is also plenty to plant, all the usual summer vegetables can go out and if you fancy something different then chillies and aubergines are great to try. So, the door is open get playing. And finally. My big experiment this year is with soya. There has been much interest in this crop, it’s certainly popular with vegans. It seems straightforward and there are plenty of recipes about. I will keep you posted. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
December Gardening News
November was a classic autumnal month, a mish mash of crazy, ever changing conditions. Covid aside (and that certainly brought some turbulence) we had still, calm, warm days, torrential rain, gales and enough frost to knock the Dahlias and beans for six. In truth it has been great. I so enjoy boisterous weather, the rough and tumble when you are just trying to get on. I was out there today, raking leaves, continuing to cut back herbaceous plants, I’ve repaired a fence, trimmed the lawn and planted a few bits of bedding, all in all a satisfying day. I may even get to paint the shed in the coming days. It’s a snap shot of my day and a gentle reminder that it is a great time to be cleaning and tidying. It is also a time for making ready for winter, for protecting the bits that we want to keep. So lift the dahlias tubers, take up the least hardy geraniums and fuchsias and salvage any remaining summer vegetables for storing. It is even worth running a fork back through the potato patch (you will have left some). Make storage space clean and dry, watch our for rodents too. You can still be planting peas and beans, together with sweet peas, but here too keep an eye for rodents. The squirrel has been busy in our garden nicking tulip bulbs and the mice just love the peas. If you want to play then just do a few pots and if you use something of a decent size peas and beans can both grow right through to harvest in containers. This month you will see bare root plants on offer, most notably hedging and raspberries. They are fine to plant now and most centres will be offering a good range of informal and formal hedging as well raspberries for all seasons. The raspberry is a great fruit and by careful selection, it is possible to be cropping from June to October. And finally, December is the month for reflection and planning. The time to consider, what worked and what didn’t. The 2021 seed lists are out, teeming with new ideas, I will be trying the Green Knight Aubergine for certain and there are new Zinnias to consider. My real dilemma will be with tomatoes though. If Boxing day offers you a quiet moment then join me as I journey to https://www.worldtomatosociety.com/. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
September Gardening News
A whole season swallowed up by COVID and time to think about the what to do next in the garden. The Spring in the main was pretty good and the interest in gardening lifted hugely as people, locked down sought occupation. There were many new to the task and most I suspect will be pleased with their endeavours. The blackfly has been testing and the caterpillars fairly voracious, but with regular watering things have grown and flourished. Anyone who has planted French beans will be particularly pleased. Demand for colour has gone on and on, with big demand for late bedding. As the summer runs towards the autumn we wrestle with the start of the next bit. Autumn onion sets are arriving in garden centres and gaps are appearing on the vegetable plot in readiness. Spring Cabbage plants and Spinach (together with Chard) are all available. There is still time to sow a few seeds too, leaf lettuce, radish, rocket and spring onions will all still deliver. Winter Lettuce (like Arctic King or Density) as well as perpetual spinach will also come through. Keep on top of September harvesting, many vegetables will perform with encouragement and the worst thing is to leave things to get too big. So keep on top of beans, courgettes and tomatoes. I have been sowing one or two less common salad supplements and now have Claytonia, Celtuce and Corn salad on the go. The celtuce is particularly interesting, offering a salad leaf and a crunchy stem which can be steamed, stir fried or grated for salad. The stem is exposed as the leaves are plucked for use. I will keep you posted. As the month rolls on, we will consider flower borders, the pansies and violas are back, together with all the old favourites. So you can be planting Wallflowers, Sweet William, bellis daises and other biennial items and then there are the bulbs. Centres are full of them and the range continues to extend, as more new varieties reach the shelf. As usual I am hooked once more on tulips. If you have had enough of it all, or you just fancy a bit more lawn, then September is a great month for grass seed sowing. The days are shorter and the ground remains warm, so seed germinates quickly. And finally, Keep tidying up too, commitment wanes once the weather turns. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
September Gardening News
So, that was summer then? What a strange month August proved to be, a real mish mash of unpredictable weather, that knocked over and knocked out. It tucked into everything above three feet, pushing over canes and cages and tumbling immature fruit. Not that the fruit issue worried me too much as pests have been active and every apple seems to have been visited by Codling moth grubs (the holes in the fruit announcing the departure of the overfed). Most things can be repaired though and the season of summer vegetables and flowers extended, with a prune, a bit of feed and the repair of support arrangements. Clip off the broken and damaged, even take out the tops of peas and beans and they will bounce back. Put your heel around winter veg to see it into the autumn. Sprouts and sprouting in particular will not deliver if they don’t have a firm hold. Have some net on hand too as the pigeons are already watching the domestic crop. Many gardeners are ready to move on and as we move into September, winter pansies and violas are back, as are many over wintering bedding items.Planting them now will set them up for a good performance through the darker months. There are some great autumn chrysanthemums and cyclamen around too and these will bring colour up to Christmas. Shelves are full of bulbs and it is worth buying this month whilst there is plenty of choice. Check out the labels when you buy, it is possible to create successions as varieties of many bulbs flower at different times. You can for example buy Daffodils and Tulips which are early, mid season and late flowering. So you can have colour from February to late April. If you like your bulbs it is worth the time. On the vegetable front, we are back in to the bulb season too, with Japanese onions, as well as shallots and garlic all appearing. You may still find a few greens about and it is worth trying your luck with Spinach, Chard and spring cabbage all of which can bring something else to the winter plate. And finally if you have space and nothing to do with it, then have a go with green manures. This is a range of vigorous plants, raised from seed which will quickly cover and smother the ground. The plants can be turned into the ground in the spring and as the name suggests improve it’s fertility. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
Mmmmmmm…so we waited for the rain and then it came, the perfect fillip for new plantings. The beans romped and everything puffed up and grew masses of leaves. The turn around was amazing, at the start of June, the message was that rainfall was at an all time low and then within days the news is announcing three months rain in a day. It has resulted in a huge demand for canes and stakes and I just about managed to save our delphiniums. Anything not supported has taken quite a thumping. The days ahead will be full of restoration and maintenance. Baskets and containers will need to be clipped and tidied and then fed to rejuvenate them. So much water is very leeching, so much of the original nutrient is on your patio. Keep on top of dead heading too, diverting plants from devoting time and energy to seed production, which will encourage new flower bud. Many things are advanced and so it is equally important to keep ahead of the harvesting. Don’t allow things to get tough, everything will be made more prolific by your attentions. Courgettes do not have to be marrows ! Do feel able to continue with your sowing. Salad crops in particular will come through quickly, so lettuce, radish and spring onions, even beetroot will come up with the goods from seed and none of them need masses of space. Whilst you are in the mood for seed sowing, why not pop in some chard or perpetual spinach. They are amazingly resilient and sown now will offer quality edible leaf right through until Easter next year. I f you have space in the vegetable plot then be on the look out for some Spring Cabbage, which a really useful early season green. Then of course there is the lawn, it too has taken a bashing and whilst the temptation is to drop the blade and rip it off, be gentle. Skim it, leave it a couple of days and do it again. I understand the frustration at seeing the emergence of a million daisies, but hold back. And finally, as you pull up your first early potatoes, give a thought to Christmas. Just for fun select a few tubers, pop them on the window sill for a week or so to ripen and then replant them in a pot. With a bit of luck they may just deliver a taste of new spuds for Christmas. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
June Gardening News
May rolls away, a muddled month, disrupted by Bank holidays and frost. Gardening confidence stayed high and lively throughout though, whilst on a daily basis, we (growers) tripped in and out covering and protecting as the teatime news indicated another after dark crash of temperature. It was all very wearing, the tease of nature changing it’s mind. As we move on into June we can proceed almost without caution, planting out the tenderer vegetables and bedding with the confidence that it will perform. So Marrows, Squash and cucumbers as well as beans can all be put out. Begonias and Busy Lizzies too. I had amazing results from tomatoes outdoors last year, with a harvest that carried through to the end of September. Find a warm sheltered corner and providing you keep up the watering you will reap the harvest. If you are modest with feeding you will even end up with something that tastes like a tomato. Do try and pop in a few herbs this year to compliment your veg, Basil is easy from seed and brings something special to chopped tomatoes and Coriander is great for adding an exotic tang to stews and curries. To keep your herbs rolling, pick off any flowers that might appear. These two plants surrender quickly to the call of the afterlife once they have flowered. Once the borders are planted its all about maintenance, grubbing out weeds which are spurred by your watering, feeding and tidying contained plants and regularly running the mower around. Remember to support tall plants, many grow quickly this month and without help will tumble and break. Tread the ground around taller items, especially winter vegetables which have a long journey ahead. Your efforts now will ensure a robust future. Sprouts in particular get very top heavy. Whilst it always seems silly to be talking about sprouts, there are other plans to be put in place for the seasons ahead. Wall flower seed can be sown now to get robust plants for the autumn as indeed can winter pansy and viola seed. Just find a bit of light shade to give seedlings a chance and you will be set when the summer closes. And finally continue to sow salad bits, they will all come quickly and give a succession that will supplement the summer Barbeque. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
May Gardening News
The sting was certainly in the tail of last month, my goodness there was some treachery, particularly around the middle of the month, when a watery sun offered thin disguise to a cruel wind, that cut through everything. Every other person drawn by the deception nursed a cold. The pollen was lively too, with Hazel and Birch catkins encouraged by the wind, throwing pollen in the direction of all. There was some conciliation though with cherries looking wonderful. Huge clusters of blossom hung from every branch and in support, the bold stands of tulips have been a delight. In fact bulbs generally have all performed well, but I am going to have to reduce the Grape Hyacinths. The tide of blue continues to sweep across every unplanted space. But, enough reflection, it’s May the planting season for everything. All the bedding and all of the veg, will in the weeks ahead get into the ground. We need to tiptoe in the early days, avoiding the most frost sensitive items like begonias and Busy Lizzies as well as our beans and marrows, but steadily it can be done, with those tender things hanging on until the tail. In sheltered corners we can make up baskets and containers, bringing these to the fore as they become established. There are some great plants about and the continued development of the petunia family continues to impress me. Modern varieties that deliver every colour from terracotta to magenta, with flowers that can be anything from an inch to four inches across and may be speckled, dappled, crossed and striped. Nature’s paint box is something quite special. Enjoy the feast. On the vegetable front, this selection continues to expand, fuelled by fancy eating and continental holidays, the public continues to search for more. Every garden centre now offers Chillis, Aubergines, round courgettes, baby cucumbers, oriental leaves, gourds and squashes and so much more. This year our adventure continues as we explore yet more tomatoes. We are playing with forty different varieties this year, exploring new shapes and colours. I have a long historical connection with tomato growing and in my early years cropped about 6,000 plants under glass every summer. My tip for growing a good tomato is to make the plant work, water away from the base of the plant to encourage good root spread and only feed the plant lightly. Lazy plants make lousy crops. And finally, know that when you have found the plant that you like best, another is waiting. In the case of tomatoes more than 10,000 other cultivars. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
February Gardening News
Tick, tick, tick, the seconds turn to minutes and another month is gone. Totally mad, Christmas seems so far behind us and the seeds that were my Christmas present sit on my desk and tease me. January was an acceptable mix of confusion, with the weather not wanting to work to a plan, so we had the lot. As we move forward into February, accepting there may be some cold to come, the Spring does seem close and in just seven weeks the clocks will change. The garden calls. I am hoping to get some pruning done this month. Whilst you will need to avoid the very bleak days, restoring order generally and particularly with some of the fruit, is a good plan. Tidy up anything that has flowered through the autumn and winter too. New growth will happen in March and plants repair very quickly. Finish turning over ground on dry days and if you have space, some bits can go into the vegetable plot, most notably onion sets, shallots and garlic. Not much harm will come to early peas and bean seed now either, just stick them in, they are not going to rot and the slight lift in temperature will have them pipping as we hit next month. If you can find sheltered space, have a greenhouse or an empty window sill then you could be starting off a few seeds. Many things don’t require heat, just a bit of protection. So green leaf vegetables including lettuce can all be sown (in moderation) as indeed can some annuals. We always used to start off early bedding in February and pansies, calendula, dianthus, antirrhinum and many others are quite straightforward. Garden centre shelves are full of seed, so do some swatting and have a play. Of course we are also well into spuds now and here again there are plenty to look at everywhere. There is no panic, but early purchase ensures that you get exactly what you want. Don’t rush to plant yet unless you want to stick a few in the bottom of a pot (which can be fun and bring a taste by the end of May). I am going to be trying a new second early introduction called ‘Lipstick’. I love quirky, I am not sure what it says about me, but I am curious. It’s a very flirty red. And finally, it’s the last call on bare root hedging. If you have gaps to fill, save money and get organised. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org