Gardening pages.qxp_Layout 1 19/05/2022 16:44 Page 54
MENDIP TIMES
Planning ahead is important
THE tulip season has come to an end in our pots and borders and the alliums are taking over while the herbaceous perennials are getting their act With MARY together to give us a PAYNE MBE riot of colour through the summer months. By the way, you may be thinking that the leaves on alliums look tatty at this stage and have done their job so can be cut off. So, it is time to plan ahead and think about next spring’s display, while you can still remember your successes and failures from this spring. I have already ordered nearly 9,000 spring bedding plants, not for my garden I hasten to add – as the suppliers must start sowing now to have plants ready for the garden centres for you to purchase in late September/October. You can grow your own pansies, wallflowers, and polyanthus from seed, although for the number you require the packet of seed may cost more than a tray of plants. Polyanthus have been out of fashion for many years, while the primrose has taken over, but it’s worth remembering that polyanthus last much longer than primroses and make an excellent “base plant” through which tulips can be planted in pots. They are also useful to fill gaps in spring borders. The most vigorous are the yellow and white shades. The blues and reds, sadly, tend to lack vigour. After flowering, polyanthus can be dug up, cut off the foliage and replanted in a shady spot and they will be ready to transplant back in the autumn. Wallflowers, as bare root plants in bundles of newspaper, are also hard to acquire these days, mainly because they have a short “shelf life” in garden centres compared to pot grown plants. Given a spare plot of land wallflowers are easy to grow. Sow seed thinly in late May/June in a sunny position and keep well-watered. Either thin the seedlings to about 6” PAGE 54 • MENDIP TIMES • JUNE 2022
(150mm) apart or better still transplant the seedlings when about 3-4” high into new ground 6” apart and water well. The transplanting breaks the tiny tap root which encourages a better root system and a bushier plant for transplanting into their final positions in the autumn. It is a good plan to decide on both the plants and bulbs for pots at the same time to get the colour scheme right. We all like getting “something for nothing” so taking cuttings is an easy way to increase the stock of plants for your own garden, or to give away to friends or charity plant sales next year. Late June and July are the ideal time to take cuttings of many deciduous and evergreen shrubs. The soft growth produced in the spring has toughened up a bit and is less vulnerable to rotting. Fairly basic procedures can also be used. Take shoots of this season’s growth and trim them just below a leaf joint so the cutting is about 4/5“ long and then pinch out the immature tip. Dip in a hormone rooting gel and dibble them around the edge of a pot of open, well drained mixture of multi-purpose compost and grit or perlite. Water well and cover with a plastic bag, sealed with a rubber band. Stand the pot where it gets NO SUN, but reasonable light. Wait until you can see roots coming out of the bottom of the pot before taking off the plastic bag. Ideally, wait until next spring before separating the cuttings and potting them up individually. There is something very satisfying about rooting cuttings or raising plants from seed yourself. Take a critical look at your borders during the summer and make notes about improvements to be made. If any plant really is not performing for you then it is time to take it out and try something else. My gardening motto is “if in doubt take it out”. Try to ensure that the plant you choose will like the position you are proposing to plant it in as regards sun or shade, moist or drier conditions. There is a wealth of information online to help you as plant labels can be vague.
Try to vary the texture of foliage on adjacent plants – some have spiky, some feathery and some bold foliage which always look good when combined. Likewise vary the form of the flowers. Daisy shapes, contrast with spikes, or button shaped flowers. Early flowering shrubs such as forsythias, flowering currants, deutzias and weigelas are all valuable spring flowering shrubs and now is the ideal time to prune them. Simply thin out some of the oldest wood from the base of the shrub. This will encourage new growth to develop which will flower the following year and if done regularly this method keeps plants in check from over-growing their space. We have just had an incredibly dry four-six weeks with hardly a single April shower. Be prepared for more dry spells. Mulch borders with 2” of wood chip to trap in the moisture. Grass clippings can also be used in modest amounts and are excellent on vegetable beds, provided lawn herbicides have not been used. As this is the year of the Queen’s Jubilee, we are all being encouraged to “plant a tree for the Jubilee”. But now is not a good time for tree planting, unless you are prepared for a summer of regular watering. So, I suggest you plan ahead and get funding in place for an autumn planting when the soil is still warm and moist. Once planted you can register your tree with the Queen’s Green Canopy website by sending a photograph of your tree and it will be plotted on a map and you will receive a virtual plaque, or you may prefer to order a physical plaque.
