We rarely major on one particular weed in the garden, but this year conditions seemed to especially favour bindweed. Typically, it is perennial hedge bindweed, Calystegia sepium, that spreads fast with its twining stems and white, trumpet flowers.
Less frequent mowing is likely now and it’s good practice to raise the cutting height of the mower or cutting deck on the garden tractor so you don’t cut too short and expose the grass to the harsh sun.
Watering the tomatoes both in and out of the greenhouse can be an easily forgotten task. They can dry out surprisingly quickly, especially if they are in grow bags. The next time you look you find limp, dying plants. Get them watered and they should revive.
A lovely way to use the beans, peas, and asparagus from the garden, in a light and tasty risotto. From The
Hairy Bikers’ Best of British. Serves four.
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Gertrude Jeckyll’s quote goes on to talk about June as ‘the fulfillment of the promise of earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.” This year it seemed spring would never come, but June is showing us how quickly the garden catches up with a little sun and green fingers.
Back in April and into May it seemed as if the grass would never grow and in patches left after scarification newly sown seed lay dormant. Then the rains came and the ground warmed up, to be followed by the late May sunshine and hey, away we go with the mowing.
There is a certain satisfaction growing your own herbs. Be they sown from seed or little pot plants from the garden centre that you grow on in containers outside the back door. Once you have an herb garden, no matter how large or small, you have ahead of you a feast of culinary delights.
From Delicious Magazine. Serves 4
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At last, we are seeing the first signs of spring and the temperature a little warmer than of late, but be cautious with any tender plants. Dahlias, for example, even hardened off, will still be susceptible to late frosts.
Having scarified and aerated a back lawn, it was time to deal with bare patches and overseed. While grass seed germinates in most conditions the weather does need to be right. Soil temperature needs to be between 9 to 12 degrees Celsius.
May is the month to make succession sowing of lettuce, carrot and onion seed for a continuous crop for the kitchen. The Big Glut recipes are chosen to be seasonal and use as much as you can from your own kitchen garden. So, if you are a keen propagator with seed, you will have no end of choice this month.
Recipe from BBC Good Food
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We have certainly been getting our fair share of rain, but the rewards are plentiful with a good showing of dwarf irises, daffodils and some early tulips in pots. March seemed to cling on to winter cold and there remains the chance of frost in many areas, so tender plants like Azaleas still need our protection.
Grass is a plant the same as other plants and requires periodic feeding. In the long term, it will be beneficial in a number of ways, including colour and appearance, disease resistance, density and wear tolerance. But before we race out with a bag of fertiliser we need to identify our grass. Fine-leaved fescues need very little complete fertiliser, usually once a year is enough.
April is a cornucopia of what you can sow, grow and crop, whatever size of vegetable plot you have. In the first half of the month, the second early potatoes you have been chitting can go into the prepared ground. Maincrop can go in in the second half.
A BBC Good Food recipe.
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Out with the hoe. The first colourful signs of spring, the crocuses, primulas and daffodils are inevitably accompanied by the fast growth of weeds in borders. Chopping them with a hoe is a great way to keep them at bay and requires less effort than digging.
Coming out of winter into spring, the lawn can often suffer from bare patches which might have been caused by drought the previous year, dog urine or disease. If the soil is compressed and hard where the patch occurs, scratch the surface with an old knife or a rake to loosen it. Then apply grass seed mixed with some topsoil to the area.
The size of your vegetable plot need not restrict the quantity you grow. Old cottage gardeners grew veg between their prize flowers and many people still do today. Containers, hanging baskets, even old guttering are other ways to go.
March is the month you can start so many vegetable sowings as long as we don’t get freakish weather and more ‘Beasts from the East.’ Even then, you can sow under glass until it’s safe to venture outside again. Asparagus, cucumbers, dwarf French beans, leeks, lettuces, marrows, melons, onions, parsley, peas, rhubarb, seakale and tomatoes are all easy to sow and grow under glass.
Delicious Magazine suggest you can switch the traditional spinach in a chicken florentine to cavolo nero for a winter version of this Italian classic.
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February is invariably a month of contrasts as it clings to winter yet sees the first vestiges of spring appearing almost daily. Snowdrops, daffodils, irises, drifts of crocus and cyclamen coum and even an early flowering cherry provide blotches of colour in an otherwise slightly barren garden landscape.
It’s likely the grass has started into growth as the temperature rises and instead of stepping out onto hard ground, the lawn feels spongy underfoot. Further exploration tells you there is a considerable amount of moss choking the grass and spreading alarmingly.
If your soil is sandy loam, you will be spared any deep digging in the vegetable plot. It will just need a good forking over and added compost after the frosts have broken it down. Remove weeds and residue of old crops in readiness for planting out and sowing. Heavy clay soil will need plenty of humus added when you give it a good dig over.
A meal for four from Delicious Magazine
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Vincent, a horticulturalist and author, goes on to say “even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them.”
So, January need not be all dull, damp and cold. You could even be sowing seeds that need frost to germinate, including alpine plants, native shrubs and trees.
It’s very unlikely you will be mowing the lawn this month but the mowing season is not far off, especially if the winter turns out mild. If you haven’t already done so it’s a good time to get the garden tractor or mower serviced in readiness.
There are a few other jobs needing your attention to help prepare the lawn for spring. Make a note of where any water lies on the grass after heavy rain or when snow thaws.
A useful job this month is to dig over any plots that haven’t been dug and let the frosts break down the soil. Weather permitting as usual, plant rhubarb in the well manured, deeply dug soil. You can force rhubarb and seakale outdoors from late January.
Grow mustard and cress sown every two weeks in succession indoors or in a heated greenhouse or frame at about 13°C (55°F). You can have home-grown lettuce, early cauliflower and cabbage grown in the same way. It’s useful to make a plan now for your crop rotation and jot down ideas for the coming year.
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