April Gardening News
Was there really a month of March? I think that I must have lost it somewhere, I guess that I was just too busy to notice it’s passing. I remember the tease of new buds and the rush to get my pruning finished, I remember the blooming splendour of Magnolias everywhere and wondering if, as last year a sneaky frost would spoil the spectacle. I remember too the first run over the lawn, the cough and splutter of the machine, chomping off six months of growth. That first cut is brutal and there is real joy as nature addresses mans savagery and restores order. In my case bare patches were highlighted and there is still time to sprinkle seed and bring about some repair. I will just scratch the gaps with a rake, sprinkle some seed and then tramp it in. April’s a great gardening month, the clocks have changed and the extended light brings new enthusiasm. The buds are popping everywhere and life is returning. The tulips are standing tall and poised to open and summer bulbs are being popped in to bring August colour. I have some new Gladioli to drop in and introducing Eucomis. It is an interesting subject to consider, it looks exotic with stems carrying pineapple like crowns of creamy flower and it isn’t difficult. The bulbs can be dropped in at about four inches and they will just get on with it. I am tucking into summer bedding sowing now too, with some bits going straight to the ground and others onto the windowsill. Almost any flowers can be sown this month, but consider the placement, some subjects will need to be protected initially. In the vegetable garden planting continues too and all of my spuds will make it to the ground in the coming days and I have some cabbage and lettuce plants to pop in. I am going to have a play with some vegetables in flower pots, there are a good range of seeds available for small space gardening, you just harvest smaller. Most seed companies are now offering a range and from previous experience I can report that carrots in pots are great. Ideally sow your choices into 10 or 12 inch pots. And finally, this year I am encouraging people to have a go with Sunflowers. It’s a small gesture, but the Sunflower is the National flower of the Ukraine and I want to display my support. Seed is very cheap, make a statement and find a space. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
June Gardening News
Here we are three months into the ‘Odyssey of Covid’ an epic journey for us all. It has been both testing and at times joyously uplifting. People have talked to one another and there have been huge acts of kindness and of generosity. In parallel, there has been bubbling frustration and confusion, all presided over by nature as it just gets on. There has been a burgeoning commitment to gardening through the difficulties with people joining the adventure and trying their hand at all sorts. I am, as you will be aware, the promoter of the adventure and many have joined. So, what next? Well, I have been sowing seeds again, the summer vegetables are all looking good, but keep an eye for pigeons and the arrival of the marauding Cabbage White caterpillars. Each evening two wood pigeons drop in to see that my greens are covered over and the first butterflies are about. Both pests are very aggressive and will tuck into good green veg at the first opportunity. Look out for yellow cylindrical egg clusters on the underside of leaves and just smudge them with your thumb. With the crop protected look at the what next opportunities. This is a good month for quite a number of sowings. You can put in some late carrots and beetroot for autumn harvest and all basic salad can still be sown. Try Corn salad for over winter use and Chard and Perpetual Spinach will also take now. These two leaves are invaluable as a cut and come again winter veg. You can also be looking at Spring Cabbage seed too. On the flower front you may want to consider wallflowers and biennials like Sweet William (and a raft of other flowering items, just check the packet for the word biennial, you will be surprised by how many there are). The weeks have raced and the other thing to try if you can bare it is seed for winter pansies. Two months and we will be planting them. If nothing else keep up the general maintenance, feeding and watering in particular to ensure that you make the most of your spring labours. A bit of care and the garden will hold up to the autumn frost. And finally, Seed potatoes for Christmas are available this month. It’s a bit fun and a couple dropped into a pot will probably give you a few new spuds for the festive table. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
April and the extended day makes the prospect of gardening more appealing. It has been a long and soggy journey and the ground is still wet, but somehow the extra light and the arrival of leaf lifts us and there is a desire to get on. The sudden lime green flash in hedgerows, almost overnight was like the flicking of a switch. Those with gardening in their veins have prepared and behind the scenes nurseries have plants ready to go. We need to get going and there is plenty to do. I will finish setting out potatoes in the coming days and know that onion sets and shallots will catch up quickly. There are Brassica plants about, Cabbage, Cauliflower and Summer sprouting can all be put out. As indeed can lettuce. If you can find a bit of light ground, then salad roots and carrots can all be run in from seed. If there isn’t a drier space anywhere than try growing your roots in deep pots. Radish, spring onion, beetroot and carrots can all perform well in pots and with a bit of planning you can create succession by sowing more in a fortnight. You can bring your vegetables right up to the back door. If the mood takes you can be sowing annuals now and some straight into the ground. Old fashioned cottage garden annuals like Candytuft, Nigella and cornflowers are a doddle. Scratch the ground with a rake and sprinkle the seed. Then just press the soil back. I am going to try broadcasting Cosmos in the same way. It is also time to be thinking of summer bulbs and tubers. I have a space prepared for Dahlias and the tubers can go into the ground towards the middle of the month. They are easy and prolific, though they will need some slug protection through the early weeks. Once you have them up they are a joy, delivering a bunch of cheer every day throughout the summer, up to the first frost. Every year I try to pop in one of the less used summer bulbs, last year setting out Tigridia (which were stunning), this year it’s the turn of Sparaxis. Known as the Harlequin flower, it shoots up quickly and delivers a palette of strong colours. Best of all it seems to cope with the wet. And finally, the green jungle that is your lawn, bays for your attention. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
January Gardening News
Happy New Year! Yep, it’s the start of another one. December was a bit of a mischief wasn’t it? A few thumping cold nights and the first end of year snow for a while. Our big Christmas seller was fleece. It was at close, an interesting year. I always think January is an exciting month, a month for planning and buying in readiness for the new season. I spend hours poring over catalogues, looking for things that are new and different. As I mentioned last month most seed firms display their catalogues online, with paper copies becoming more of a rarity. The seed industry is flagging up 2018 as the Year of the Marigold for some reason, but the real growth in my eyes is with Petunias, there are an astonishing number and some really lovely varieties. If you are into your flowers check out Gaillardia Mesa too, what a delight that series is with some stunning sunshine shades. On the vegetable front, seed companies are promoting more depth in every area. One firm I looked at offers sixteen types of beetroot. Across the board, depth is the keyword, dozens of different Tomatoes, Chillis, Lettuce, wherever you look the choice is huge. Is 21 varieties of carrot in one catalogue a record? In my camp of course, the big thing is spuds and stock is arriving every day. Ok, I admit it, we get carried away with range too. This year my eyes are on ‘Kennebec’ a big potato with an interesting pedigree. The official catalogue description is ‘hefty’. The variety is favoured by giant veg growers, but don’t be put off it does have a flavour. If you want to actually plant something (weather permitting), then onion sets, shallots and garlic can all be considered as the month moves on and as always, I am playing with a pinch of lettuce on the window sill. If they are only nipped off for a sandwich, they will be appreciated. The new season is only days away. And finally, I’ve been looking at summer bulbs. We all do traditional autumn things, like daffs and crocus, but apart from Dahlias the summer bulbs are not well explored. So this year, I am going to play with some that I have never grown before and that will be wonderful, if they look half as good as the picture suggests. So Hymenocalis, Tigridia and Galtonia were all on my Christmas list. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
August Gardening News
Wow, that was a hot one! The dry spell was punishing, indeed quite debilitating for a day or so and just for a moment gardeners stopped. We sold a lot of ice cream. Every splash of rain raised the humidity too, which has been great for the pests and diseases. Crops have continued to grow, but in such conditions you have really had to be on the case with harvesting, with many things going past their best in a hurry. There were early beans that within days were going tough and courgettes that became marrows over night. So, the message is keep harvesting, even removing substandard material to encourage further production. The same rule applies to flowers, don’t allow them to waste energy on going to seed, just pick once a petal drops. Vegetative growth has remained luxuriant, but everything will quickly look autumnal if we don’t get some steady rain; your watering input is essential if plants are to see September out. Do try to feed too, plants are stressed and your encouragement will pay off. If you are up for some fun of course you can play with a bit of late seed and root crops in tubs are very manageable and results very achievable. Try carrots, beetroot, radish and spring onions. Close to the house and with gentle maintenance they will crop. With the carrots try Early Nantes. Normally grown (as you will have guessed) for early production they are very quick to mature. The other vegetable varieties are not so important, they will just do it. If you have room and enthusiasm then spring cabbage and spinach can still be planted. I really value these two items, which will reliably offer up strong greens for over winter use. You will have noticed that garden centres are showing bulbs, it is early, but if you want choice and quality buy them and cool store them until next month. Unless you are wanting to try once more to get Hyacinths for Christmas in which case you need to plant in the middle of this month. It’s crazy to be talking Christmas, but there you are, the winter pansies are on sale so why not. And finally, keep an eye out for blight and keep picking off those black spotted rose leaves. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
August Gardening News
So we arrive at the end of the month still puzzling over what exactly is going on. It has been a strange season (yes, another one) and how many permutations we see, with high humidity, torrential storms and heat enough to lift the tarmac, it’s been quite tropical. With high humidity has come disease unfortunately and the blight swept into July and has caused havoc in both potato and tomato crops. There has been plenty of mildew and black spot too. Once these things arrive it is really difficult to manage them, so don’t just throw money at them. Heavily infected material must be destroyed or the spores will just hang around and carrying on creating havoc. In the case of Black Spot and Mildew this means removing badly infected leaves. If it’s blight however, try to get the debris out with the bin in green waste. If your plants are clean then you can flash across with a fungicide to offer a preventative barrier, undoubtedly keeping good order until something decides to eat it. As we move into the month bulbs will start to appear in the garden centres. They create colourful displays, but there is no rush to buy unless you want Hyacinths for Christmas. If they take your fancy, make sure the label says they are ‘prepared’ and try to plant them by the middle of the month. Any other purchasing will be to do with making sure you get the varieties you want and there are as one would expected plenty of new things. Once bought pack them away somewhere cool and dark for a couple of weeks. Planted early they may decide to produce too much foliage too early. Before we know it,we will be onto winter pansies. Keep an eye open for the Wave series which are wonderful in overwintering baskets. They have a good trailing habit and will give a spectacular show if you get them planted at the turn of the month. On the vegetable front,you can still play with pinches of salad, all of the salad roots will come and given the early disasters with Radishes and the wet, I will promise late success. And finally carrots. It has been almost impossible to get a decent row of carrots this spring. So, try again. Take out a shallow drill, water it and then sow in some Burpee short or Parisienne globes. The seed is cheap,the varieites are fast and you may just pull a fast onewhilst nature looks away. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
July Gardening News
Once more the corner is turned, the longest day left behind and the fruits of our labour become ever more obvious. June in it’s passing brought us mildew and black spot, quite a number of early caterpillars and the pigeons haven’t given up on anything. The humidity has been a big issue for many crops, continuing to bring along disease, (so keep an eye on the spuds and tomatoes, it’s great weather for blight). An all purpose fungicide can be applied as a preventative, if the conditions continue. It’s also been perfect for midges and mosquito. I am not sure why, but they do like me. So everything is growing, although it has been a bit of a struggle with some of the root veg, most notably the carrots, many of which have found themselves pummelled into the ground and then baked. I think that it’s going to be worth doing some late sowing and if you use early season or short varieties like Early Nantes, I think that you can still expect a result, Beetroot will still make it too. More traditionally we can be sowing Perpetual Spinach and lining up the first of the spring cabbage. It always seems crazy to be making these plantings so early, but it does pay off. Spinach will be fit for harvest by autumn and with sensible harvesting can carry on producing long into the winter. If you have started to lift any early spuds, have a go at replanting a few for Christmas. Stick them on a window sill for a week to ripen and then pot them back into a pot for harvest later. It fun and can give you a taste for Christmas. The borders and containers will all be in full bloom by now, so try to keep them dead headed and watered across the summer. If time permits apply the same commitment to shrubs and roses too (many will repeat flower). Just a little effort will pay dividends and see your investment busy until the autumn. Pansy time will be back soon enough. And finally if you can find a quiet corner, sow a few Wallflowers and sweet William, both have been beautiful this year, but they do need a long growing season, so start now straight into the ground and transplant in late September. Enjoy ! Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org
April Gardening News
So, the bleakness rolled on with an occasional punctuation of teasing sunshine that suggested momentarily that Spring was coming. The races passed almost unscarred with rain at the last, but there was spite in the wind and today it has moved once more to the east. The clocks have changed though and we have more light space. There is much to do and we must proceed with optimism. The seed potatoes can all go in now, no worth in staggering the planting, they will set their own pace (chatted or not). All of the hardy vegetables can be set out (though still not Runner Beans or Marrows, nor any other cucurbit). Salad stuff will also stand out and successions of salad roots can be sown. Sprinkle Radish, beetroot and spring onion between rows of heavier veg, they are not demanding and will all harvest ahead of their bigger neighbours. Tomatoes can be played with. They will be best undercover, but if you are feeling brave try something tough and old fashioned against a fence or wall. We used to put out a variety called ‘First in the Field’ which grew like a weed everywhere and which we always started early. Red Alert is also worth a try (it is always a gamble, but not high risk). Whilst you don’t want to be putting Runner Beans out, you can get the seed started and you can prepare the site for planting. Taking a trench out and back filling with well rotted manure or garden compost is worth the trouble, especially if as last year the season is dry. Organic matter retains moisture and will reduce the early dropping of flowers. On the preparation front, consider the protection of leeks and carrots either by getting organised with a mesh cover or by planting like the salad bits between taller veg. Both of these plants have suffered maggot attack in recent years so diverting or discouraging the fly will help. It’s also coming up to flower time too. I have just finished planting some new roses and have set out a few hardy bedding plants in the border. Things like Antirrhinums are very hardy and will benefit from an extended growing season. And finally. The first bedding heralds the changing season and prompts me to pull out my hanging basket for replanting. This is a job that can be tackled early even without constant protection. You just need to watch night temperatures and keep the frost off. If there is a sudden dip bring the thing into the kitchen overnight. Happy Gardening. Chris Evans www.dundrynurseries.co.uk www.thebutterflygarden.org