City Times Gardening

It’s been a mixed bag when it comes to the weather situation recently. We’ve had some lovely sunny days, some initial peppering of rain, cold nights and more recently a deluge of rain including hail! Us and our plants have had to deal with a very changeable environment, making it at times challenging to prioritise gardening jobs.

After the heavy rains over the last few days, I’ve scouted around the garden to check my plants. In particular for me it was key to ensure that all that wind and wetness hadn’t dislodged any long pliable stems and forced them out of position.

When checking climbers it is worth re-tying in limbs that could snap or smother lower plants. It’s also worth dead-heading all those shattered flowers from the likes of the tulip or daffodil as they come to an end. Dead-heading is useful if you want to conserve the energy that would be wasted on seed production, to channel it into flower development for next year - it also potentially removes a site for disease to take hold. Simply remove flower heads (leave the flower stalk to die down naturally) with finger and thumb or a sharp pairs of scissors or secateurs. As the plant continues to die down, this is the perfect time to feed with a good general based fertiliser by broadcasting it at the base of the plant; I use fish, blood and bone at a rate of 35g/m² - or the quickest way of getting any feed into a plant is by liquid feeding; I use seaweed based products.

With the dead-heading complete and the climbers all securely tied into their frames, it’s time to move onto other areas. As this is such a key time for pests and diseases to start emerging, watch out for the following two pests, as I have seen both in my garden recently:

Box tree caterpillar: Look out for newly hatched caterpillars which are greenish-yellow with black heads. As they mature, these caterpillars can get to 4cm. They will wrap leaves around themselves making it difficult to control them. I’ve found some good success by removing by hand and popping onto a bird table, using pheromone traps (these would need to be set up in early April) and more recently some greater success with a biological control that contains the micro-organism bacillus thuringiensis. This worked well for me last year repeat-spraying several times across the season when the temperature is at least 15°C. Spray thoroughly, coating both sides of the leaves so it penetrates deep into the plants. Check out this useful link on the pest: www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/ box-tree-caterpillar.

Lily beetle: Look out for adult beetles which are 8mm long and have bright red wing cases and thorax. The head and legs are black. As the names suggests, this beetle attacks lilies, but it also attacks fritillaries. Adult beetles make rounded holes in the leaves and can also feed on petals and seed pods, whilst the larval stage can strip entire leaves. Check out this link www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/lilybeetle.

I’ll also be undertaking the following jobs this month...

If you haven’t got round to it, this is a great time to start harvesting rhubarb stems. Only remove half at any one time by pulling stems carefully from the base of the plant (don’t cut). The pulling process invigorates the plant and it will respond by quickly producing more stems. As the temperature gets warmer, don’t forget to mulch around the plant with a weed mat or better still, a good shovel or two of well-rotted organic matter such as leaf mould to a depth of around 10-15cm. This will lock in soil moisture and keep weeds at bay. Over time this type of mulch will help to increase soil fertility.

Support tall plants such as peas and sweet peas with canes and ties where needed. Keep yourself and young gardeners safe by adding cane toppers to your supports.

Pot up your tomatoes and start removing side shoots that develop from the leaves of the main stem. This will help them direct growth to the fruit rather than extra green growth. You can also add basil plants to your tomato pots, as both love the same conditions, and the herb will help deter whitefly.

Here are a few other tasks for the month of May www.rhsplants. co.uk/rhs-monthly-jobs-may.

Happy gardening!

For any gardening tips please contact Tom Cole, Horticultural Lecturer, Capel Manor College, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4RR or send an email to tomcole8@hotmail.com.

Slimming World Donations Are in the Bag for Cancer Research UK!

So confident they’ll never need their larger sizes again, Slimming World members across Chelmsford have raised over £8,000 by donating the clothes they’ve successfully slimmed out of to Cancer Research UK.

Last week, Cancer Research UK collected a phenomenal 322 bags of clothes, shoes and accessories donated by local Slimming World members as part of The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw and further bags were also taken directly to the local Chelmsford shop. Each of the filled bags is worth around £25 to the charity, and Slimming World has supported Cancer Research UK since 2013 raising more than £18 million to date.

Slimming World’s national fundraising campaign aims to raise awareness of how losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight could prevent around 22,800 cases of cancer every year in the UK, and reduce the risk of 13 types of cancer - such as breast, bowel, womb, ovarian and gall bladder cancer. The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw 2023 also gives members a chance to celebrate the difference that they’ve made to their health, whether they’ve dropped one dress or waist size, or six.

The local consultants are delighted to have raised so much money for charity. They said: “We are blown away at such an incredible level of support - Slimming World groups have a real sense of community and members love that they can celebrate their success by donating their slimmed-out-of clothes while helping others!

“For us consultants, seeing members donate their too big clothes is just the cherry on top. What we find so special is seeing members transform in so many ways before our eyes as they lose weight. In our groups, members learn to remove feelings of guilt around food, and instead feel empowered by all the free food they can enjoy on Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising. Through Food Optimising they learn to change the way they think about food by making changes to the way they shop, cook and eat, and they lose weight without ever feeling hungry.

“Members also make friends in our groups, they celebrate success together and they are there for one another through the more challenging times too. As the weight drops off and the energy levels soar, many of them also become more active - walking, swimming, playing with the kids… there really is no stopping them! They shed the shackles of their former selves - including the clothes they’ll never fit in again too.

“So many people don’t know how much of a difference losing weight can make to health - hopefully this campaign and our efforts for charity will help inspire more people in Chelmsford to improve their health and change their lives by losing weight too.”

Mr and Mrs B had spent 10 years improving and extending their property, but after living in it for a while they realised that the kitchen was too small and poorly designed. They have 2 older daughters who are at university but visit regularly. They both love to cook and were hoping to reignite their passion for preparing meals from scratch. They lived within a 10 minute walk of the Regal showroom, and after reading some of their online reviews decided to pay them a visit.

Mr and Mrs B loved the modern handleless look but didn’t want the space to look too clinical. The existing layout wasn’t working for them, so they asked for some advice from Regal’s Senior Designer, John Martin, to achieve the best positioning possible.

They entertain a lot, so a seating area near their bifold doors which lead to the garden was to be incorporated into the design, possibly with a bar area. They had also requested an island, but wanted this to also double up as a sink and dishwashing area. As they sometimes work from home, they asked for a kettle tap to be included - not just for hot drinks but to speed up cookery times when preparing banquets for their friends.

They invited a designer around to look at the project and quickly concluded the best option would be to relocate the kitchen to the other side of the room and the inspired decision to block in the two windows really gave the kitchen the dimensions it needed.

They opted for Schuller cabinets in white gloss with contrasting concrete fascias. The peninsula serves as both the wet area, including essential Quooker tap, and with the raised coordinating concrete top as a breakfast bar.

The bespoke drinks area strategically positioned near the back door, ready for barbeque season, includes two NEFF wine chillers and an additional rinsing sink. Twin NEFF double ovens and a Flexinduction hob allow the customer to ‘cook up a storm’.

The finishing touch of 60 square metres of Pisa polished porcelain tiles completes the modern look. Mr and Mrs B explained that the brief to bring the kitchen forward to the next generation was surpassed.

Regal Kitchens Showroom is situated at 2 Navigation Road, CM2 6HX and open 7 days per week between 10am and 4pm.

Rambling With a Bouncing Bomb - By Britain’s Oldest Angry Young Man

2023 is the 80th anniversary of the celebrated RAF Dambusters raid in May 1943. Not that civil servants in the Home Office seem to know this (shame on them) or they would not be considering plans to turn the airfield at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire into a place for asylum seekers to stay. What an insult to the brave airmen and their families. 617 Squadron took off on one of the most daring missions of World War 2.

Their task was an attempt to cripple the Nazi war effort by destroying three dams in the Ruhr Valley. Unfortunately the leader of the mission, 24 year old Guy Gibson, suffered a personal loss the morning of the mission when his labrador dog was run over and killed by a car.

However, undeterred, 19 RAF Lancaster bombers equipped with the revolutionary ‘bouncing bomb’, that would be delivered through a hail of anti-aircraft fire while flying agonisingly close to the waves below. The bomb skipped across the water and exploded against the side of a dam.

However, for the men of the newly formed 617 Squadron, the raid