Gardening Hints

Hell to all residents, friends and gardeners in the district. Can’t believe it is already August, at the time of writing we are still awaiting any significant rainfall. Everything is parched, the lawns are brown and trees and shrubs are really suffering. Just yesterday I took a late evening stroll in the forest and noticed leaves are already beginning to drop, due to the trees being stressed by lack of water. Quite upsetting really and I hope nature has a way of compensating when things return to normality soon. However bad the lawns look at the moment, a good downpour will soon green them up. August is a month when you should continue to reap your rewards from the hard work put in on your allotment or vegetable patch. Cover soft fruit bushes with net, to prevent the birds from beating you to the crop. Continue to side shoot tomato plants and keep evenly watered and feed at least once a week. This year I have noticed that tomatoes have ripened a good two to three weeks earlier than normal, this is due to the continued warm, dry, sunny weather. You can remove some of the leaves now to encourage ripening. Keep watering hanging baskets, pots and troughs, water early mornings or in the evening for maximum effect. Avoid spraying your plants as this will cause scorching and will not give the plants the water where they need it which is at the roots. At home, have plenty of water butts to catch rainwater, but as there has been no rain I fill these with a hose pipe and continue to water all my baskets and pots with a watering can. This enables me to know exactly how much water I am giving each basket and pot and also direct the water directly to the base of the plants. Keep dead-heading all basket plants too encourage further flowering. As always take time out to enjoy your garden and take in the sights and scents on a warm summer evening. I will of course do the same with a nice cold beer as an accompaniment. Source: Nigel—Art Garden Centre, Vicarage Lane Editor’s Comment: I have to say a special thank you to Nigel and Irene at Art Garden Centre, the very first time I went around to a few local businesses with my idea for a local magazine, I just had a folded piece of paper with some writing on it, I popped into Art Garden Centre and Nigel had just taken over the garden centre and agreed to advertise straight away in the first issue and has continued ever since and agreed to write my gardening column which I know many people enjoy. Thank you Nigel for trusting and believing in me, sixteen years later we are both going strong.