Greetings for May from the Compost Corner
This is the moment we have been waiting for – well almost. The night frosts we have been having lately prove why experienced gardeners do not put out tender plants till the end of May.
Over the past few weeks I have seen customers at the garden centres pushing out trolley loads of leafy beans and bedding plants. They are produced commercially in regulated heated conditions so the first icy snap in your garden turns the soft growth brown. The garden centres don’t mind as you have to go back and buy more.
Early potatoes will be showing through and may well have been touched by frost – mine have. Keep earthed up, they will recover. Incidentally, potatoes need plenty of water especially when there are big green leaves and the tubers are forming.
Now is the time to plant runner beans, salad stuff, radish, lettuce, beetroot etc. If the soil feels warm to the hand then it is warm enough to sow seed. Beans are best started indoors in trays if you can as rodents like to eat them, but they do well if planted straight into the ground. Once germinated they seem to be safe. Even a few bean plants in big pots will give a surprisingly good crop, remember to put in some stout sticks about 6 foot high.
When sowing seeds, remove weeds, stones and lumps etc. Scatter a little general fertilizer. Mark out a drill, water the drill and sow the seeds. Press a thin layer of earth over them – the bigger the seed the deeper they go. The first joint of your finger is about right for beans and peas. Tap the soil down gently so the seed is in contact with the earth, otherwise you will suffer from a fluffy seedbed! Protect from birds, pests and slugs.
Remember vegetables are mainly composed of water so keep the seedlings and young plants well watered, but not soggy, or your crops will be tough when you come to eat them.
Be ready to whisk some cover over emerging beans if there is a frost forecast, fleece or even newspaper. You can use clothes peg to quickly fix it to the supports. Plant your bean seeds or seedlings to the pole and not the other way round or you may destroy roots when inserting it. The soil is still too cold for French beans.
You can buy bedding plants for your basket s and containers now but keep them in a sheltered spot to harden off. If you have a greenhouse you can plant up baskets and hang them up in the greenhouse to grow on. Put a piece of plastic in the bottom of the basket to hold water in a reservoir or it will run straight through – unless it is an all plastic one. Use some water retaining granules in the compost to hold water. Follow the instructions, if you use too much it oozes out and makes a terrible mess. Also put in some slow release fertilizer pellets. There will be a lot of plants in the basket and they will soon exhaust the compost. You can feed with a weak tomato fertilizer as well.
This is the moment we have been waiting for – well almost. The night frosts we have been having lately prove why experienced gardeners do not put out tender plants till the end of May.
Over the past few weeks I have seen customers at the garden centres pushing out trolley loads of leafy beans and bedding plants. They are produced commercially in regulated heated conditions so the first icy snap in your garden turns the soft growth brown. The garden centres don’t mind as you have to go back and buy more.
Early potatoes will be showing through and may well have been touched by frost – mine have. Keep earthed up, they will recover. Incidentally, potatoes need plenty of water especially when there are big green leaves and the tubers are forming.
Now is the time to plant runner beans, salad stuff, radish, lettuce, beetroot etc. If the soil feels warm to the hand then it is warm enough to sow seed. Beans are best started indoors in trays if you can as rodents like to eat them, but they do well if planted straight into the ground. Once germinated they seem to be safe. Even a few bean plants in big pots will give a surprisingly good crop, remember to put in some stout sticks about 6 foot high.
When sowing seeds, remove weeds, stones and lumps etc. Scatter a little general fertilizer. Mark out a drill, water the drill and sow the seeds. Press a thin layer of earth over them – the bigger the seed the deeper they go. The first joint of your finger is about right for beans and peas. Tap the soil down gently so the seed is in contact with the earth, otherwise you will suffer from a fluffy seedbed! Protect from birds, pests and slugs.
Remember vegetables are mainly composed of water so keep the seedlings and young plants well watered, but not soggy, or your crops will be tough when you come to eat them.
Be ready to whisk some cover over emerging beans if there is a frost forecast, fleece or even newspaper. You can use clothes peg to quickly fix it to the supports. Plant your bean seeds or seedlings to the pole and not the other way round or you may destroy roots when inserting it. The soil is still too cold for French beans.
You can buy bedding plants for your basket s and containers now but keep them in a sheltered spot to harden off. If you have a greenhouse you can plant up baskets and hang them up in the greenhouse to grow on. Put a piece of plastic in the bottom of the basket to hold water in a reservoir or it will run straight through – unless it is an all plastic one. Use some water retaining granules in the compost to hold water. Follow the instructions, if you use too much it oozes out and makes a terrible mess. Also put in some slow release fertilizer pellets. There will be a lot of plants in the basket and they will soon exhaust the compost. You can feed with a weak tomato fertilizer as well.
Keep on top of weeding, hoeing works well in dry weather as the weeds soon wither and die. Do not disturb surface rooting plants like roses though. Chickweed and cleavers grow in great clumps, they come out easily and look unsightly if left so try to remove. Greenery is ok on the compost heap but not seed heads.
Dead head daffodils and tulips, do not cut of or tie up the leaves, give a sprinkling of general fertilizer to promote next years flowers. If daffodils did not perform well, dig up, divide and plant deeply.
Put in supports for tall soft plants like delphiniums. Twigs and prunings are better than canes if possible.
Water containers, one thorough drenching is preferable to frequent dribbles. Dried out compost is very hard to re-wet so stand in water for an hour or two if possible. Even if we have rain it will not penetrate into pots.
Keep the lawn cut, blades not too low whilst ground is so dry. Spread some lawn fertilizer and water in if no rain arrives. Bare patches can be re-seeded but the soil needs to be loosened so the seed roots can penetrate. Cover to protect from birds and keep moist.
Buy hardy perennials or shrubs to fill gaps in your borders. In the garden centre you can see what is in flower at the moment so you know when it will perform in your garden, check the label for final size and soil required before you buy.
Remember hardy annual seeds provide a quick splash of colour very cheaply e.g. nigella, marigolds, godetia, nasturtiums and many more.
Try a tray or pot of mixed’ cut and come again lettuce’ outside so you have fresh lettuce available.
Don’t forget you are allowed to sit and enjoy your garden too!
Happy growing, Caroline
Dead head daffodils and tulips, do not cut of or tie up the leaves, give a sprinkling of general fertilizer to promote next years flowers. If daffodils did not perform well, dig up, divide and plant deeply.
Put in supports for tall soft plants like delphiniums. Twigs and prunings are better than canes if possible.
Water containers, one thorough drenching is preferable to frequent dribbles. Dried out compost is very hard to re-wet so stand in water for an hour or two if possible. Even if we have rain it will not penetrate into pots.
Keep the lawn cut, blades not too low whilst ground is so dry. Spread some lawn fertilizer and water in if no rain arrives. Bare patches can be re-seeded but the soil needs to be loosened so the seed roots can penetrate. Cover to protect from birds and keep moist.
Buy hardy perennials or shrubs to fill gaps in your borders. In the garden centre you can see what is in flower at the moment so you know when it will perform in your garden, check the label for final size and soil required before you buy.
Remember hardy annual seeds provide a quick splash of colour very cheaply e.g. nigella, marigolds, godetia, nasturtiums and many more.
Try a tray or pot of mixed’ cut and come again lettuce’ outside so you have fresh lettuce available.
Don’t forget you are allowed to sit and enjoy your garden too!
Happy growing, Caroline