Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course LtdJuly hopefully means that summer really gets going with long warm days that run on into the evening. This allows time for pottering around in the garden doing the little jobs and keeping everything looking at its best as the garden reaches its peak. It is also the time for garden parties and BBQs or just sitting on the patio, when all the hard work to get this far pays you back. It’s all about maintenance now, deadheading, weeding, trimming and pruning, watering and feeding to get the best out of your fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Take a regular crop of fruit and vegetables as they come available, re-sow to fit in a second crop particularly salads but avoid picking any more rhubarb as this will exhaust the plant prior to winter and result in a poor crop next year. If you have a surplus of herbs just pick and dry them for storage in glass jars or simply freeze them for later use. Keep battling the pests and diseases which can cause so much damage. I tried an organic pesticide this year which was not very effective so the black fly has infested the broad beans and the aphids are curling up the apple and plum leaves. Provado is on order from Amazon, so returning to chemical attack and can’t arrive quick enough. I do my best to be organic but sometimes it just doesn’t work well enough.
Another area where I resort to chemical attack is when it comes to weeds. Where possible I dig them out and compost them as some weeds are more nutritious than the vegetables we keep and eat. However, when weeds sprout from the gaps and cracks in paving or get established in the lawn it’s time to look for that dedicated sprayer or watering can that has WEEDKILLER written on it with an indelible black marker. That’s right… the one that doesn’t get used for anything else and gets a good rinse afterwards.
Weedkillers come in all shapes and sizes but rest assured that 1L bottle of WEED OFF from the garden centre is the most expensive way of clearing your weeds. It is so much cheaper in the long run to buy the concentrate and dilute according to the instruction on the packaging. A lot of weedkillers contain Glyphosate which is highly effective for dealing with the driveway but this will kill everything so avoid it on the lawn. My favourite is SBK, available from Amazon, and will finish off tree stumps if required but again do not use on the lawn. When it comes to lawns it gets a little more complicated as you do not want to kill the lawn, but there is no single weedkiller that will deal with all lawn weeds. Yarrow for example, is difficult to clear and needs 2 or even 3 different weedkillers combined to be fully effective.
Yarrow.
The active ingredients fall into two categories, Group 1 MCPA and 2,4-D and Group 2 Dicamba, Dichlorprop and Mecoprop. You need to ensure that you have at least one weedkiller from each group.
So enjoy your garden through the summer, the hard work is done until clear up time in the Autumn. To quote Charlie Dimmock “if it’s not fun you are not doing it right” so time for a beer and to figure out exactly what Charlie was talking about.
We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.
If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
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