'Garden Column - August 2009'

 

 

Turn your attention to Heather.

 

 

Heather beds may need some vital attention this month.

Hand weed around your prize plants and mulch with some Levington Ericaceous Compost and feed with Vitax Pelleted Ericaceous Fertiliser to continue to encourage healthy growth.

Dead head varieties as soon as they finish flowering by shearing them into round hummocks.

Whilst trimming you can increase your stocks by taking cuttings or carefully layer stems by pinning them into the soil.

Dead and tired plants should also be removed and discarded and then replaced with fresh stock.

Heathers also make ideal container plants and make great companions to other containerised acid loving plants such as Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias and even Blueberry plants.

Add them to your containers to gain extra colour at this time of year.

Heathers also can look fantastic in hanging baskets as well either in mixed displays or just by themselves.

If you want to use some of your heather material for a lucky charm or buttonhole then pick the flowers from a double-flowering variety of Calluna vulgaris (Ling) in the morning.

Pack it into some plastic wrapping and place into the freezer. This can be thawed when needed and will appear as fresh as the day that you picked it.

 

 

Tidy Currants.

 

 

Currants which now have been stripped of their fruit now need to be trimmed.

With all members of the currant family - their fruit is borne on the previous year’s wood.

Older branches need to be removed to allow some of the younger and healthier shoots to develop from the base of the plant.

On younger plants the fruited growth needs to be trimmed back to around half its height to help gain a strong and healthy shape. Whilst trimming currants always follow the fundamental laws of pruning - remove any dead, damaged and diseased wood then once this is pruned – trim out any inward growing stems so that only outward growing growth is left. Then continue with the restructuring of your bushes.

Once pruned feed with Vitax Pelleted Q4 Fertiliser to give them some much needed nutrient after the cropping season.

 

 

Check out your frames.

 

 

This month it can worth doing a little maintenance to your glasshouse.

Wooden and aluminium both require some attention before the autumn and the unwelcome return of winter weather.

Wooden greenhouses, soft or hard wood require some wood preserve to be painted onto the frame inside and out.

At this time of the year the preserve will dry very quickly so that any plants that are still present can be moved out whilst you treat your timber frame and then can be quickly moved back once the treatment has dried.

Bolts and screws should be checked that they are tight and the glazing is secure.

Aluminium framed glasshouses should also have their bolts tighten and ensure there are enough glazing clips holding the glazing panels in place.

Remember to always keep some spare clips and bolts to hand as you never know when they will be needed.

 

 

Time to get in a pickle with onions.

 

 

Harvest onions that have been earmarked for pickling.

Dry off the bulbs and pickle them as soon as possible.

You may have noticed that some of your crop has very thick-necks.

This is a sign that they haven’t bulbed up properly. These should have this growth checked by bending their leaves over the neck. These should then be earmarked for instant use in the kitchen.

 

 

Fishing for fruit.

 

 

Apples and Pears that are carrying large amounts can easily have this well-earned fodder blown off - bruising the fruit and spoiling the crop.

An easy way around this is to place a net of nylon mesh around the base to help catch the fruit as it falls.

This needs to be connected to the trunk of each tree.

Strategically place stakes around the tree and with the net dipping in the centre near the trunk so that the fallen fruit can be collected with ease.

This will hopefully give you more fruit into your bowl and less into the cider barrel. 

 

 

Turn attention to rhubarb.

 

 

Keep an eye on your Rhubarb.

For one thing to remember is that they shouldn’t be allowed to flower. If you do - the plants energy and goodness will go into producing the large panicle flower and thus sapping the goodness out of the large crown root.

Another job which needs to be done with your rhubarb plant is to give it a good feed with Vitax Pelleted Q4 Fertiliser and mulch with Levington Water Saving Bark or Wessex Cocoa Shell to help maintain some moisture at the base of the crown and help suppress weed growth.

If the weather is dry keep well-watered.

 

 

Stop Cauliflower’s from bolting. 

 

 

Cauliflowers will start to head up.

To stop the dirt and grit getting into the heads remember to bend a leaf over the flower as this will help stop it from happening.

It can be common that much of your crop is available all at once and there is only so much cauliflower one can eat and the thought of a freezer full can seem quite daunting possibly putting you off the vegetable for life!

After spending months toiling over your prize crop and with the threat of giving them away then allow me to give you a couple of solutions.

You can either, heel the cauliflowers into some soil in a tray or hang them up with their heads facing downwards under cover.

Either solution will allow you to keep them for a few days and will prevent them from bolting.