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I didn’t manage to get a May article written last month as the economic challenge distracted me, but given one of the coldest April’s for a while, I imagine progress in the garden was quite slow. Although some days have been wonderfully sunny we have been hindered by a persistent cold wind. A pub garden was a good alternative but it was necessary to dress for the occasion! Despite the wind, the seeds were sown, although a bit late this year. Germination has been good and the seedlings are hardening off… just need to get planted out.
The scratch and patch with Canada Green grass seed (available from Amazon) was completed and starting to come up, so hoping this will be the cure for the persistent droughts we get these days. I will give it a bit of time to get going and then give the lawn a cut.
The fine fellows from the Hideaway Nursery have erected a greenhouse for me so it’s time to get serious about propagation. It’s a bit too late for basal cuttings, but plenty of opportunity for stem tip cuttings and hardwood cuttings later in the year. Although hardwood cuttings can often go straight into the ground without needing a greenhouse. What is good is that even on a cool day, it is lovely and warm with the door closed and I can see myself spending a lot of time in there. One worrying development, though, is that the Duchess has started putting the laundry in there when it rains!
Exochorda “Pearl Bush” suitable for stem tip cuttings in summer.
We picked up some fantastic White Delphiniums, Penstemons and Tomato Plants from the Shoregate Nursery. The perennials have gone into the ground and the Tomato Plants are racing away in the greenhouse. I also noticed that the Leek seedlings planted in January are struggling in B&Q General Compost so picked up a few bags of seedling compost from Josephine which I am sure will be better.
The fruit has blossomed in time to avoid the April frost and the small fruits are forming. It is best to wait for the June drop and see what is left before thinning out. Branches on plum trees can be ripped off due to overbearing as the fruits swell and dwarf rootstock apple trees need to be supported. It is tempting to hang on to as much fruit as possible but young trees may not be able to support the weight and a bumper crop can exhaust the plant. Alternatively, simply prune back fruit trees and remove half the crop, although this is more indiscriminate. Personally, I like to pick off the small ones and let the big ones develop.
There was not much happy ribbetting from the frog pond this year, but we did get a couple of clumps of spawn. This has been collected into a separate container to allow the tadpoles to develop unhindered by predators. We tried this last year but with no apparent improvement in frog numbers… but worth another go.
June is the month when you go into maintenance routine and keep the garden looking at its best through the summer and start to enjoy outdoor living. But having said that, I am sitting here hoping that the weather will pick up as nothing much has happened yet. Definitely looking forward to restaurants and pubs opening for indoor activity. In fact, I have drawn up a list of my favourite country pubs to visit during the summer. In fact, I have decided to take up woodwork…so the first one will be the Carpenters Arms.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.
Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society
