6 minute read
Garden jottings from The Garden Enclosure
The Garden Enclosure Jottings
Calling all basket cases – it’s time once again for a suspended masterpiece, a summer stunner, a blooming marvel, a hanging basket to beat all others – come on, rise to the challenge, make the best for your home in 2021! Hanging baskets can look wonderfully impressive, yet they’re very easy to create. Start by choosing your basket type, big is better as it’ll give your display greater impact and the contents won’t dry out so quickly. If it’s a wrought iron or wire basket you’ll need a liner to fit inside, such as a pre-formed coir liner, then line inside this with polythene. Generally, woven or rattan baskets have the polythene pre-fitted.
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Punch small holes through the plastic all around the sides about an inch (3cm) up from the bottom to create a small water reservoir at the base. Fill your basket to three-quarters full with a good quality multi-purpose compost, incorporating water-retaining crystals and a slow-release plant food as you go. Now to the exciting bit, the plants! Pack in as many as you can, lots of choices, select for either sun or shade, lots of colours, lots of textures. It’s up to you whether you follow a set colour scheme or go for a random mix, there are no rules. Use upright plants in the centre and trailing varieties around the sides to create a full and flowing display as the plants fill out.
Handle your plants with care, start at one edge and work across the container, lightly feeding in more compost to cover the roots as you go. Once planted, gently firm the contents down and water well, the soil should be flat or slightly sunken towards the middle to aid watering. Basket plants are very susceptible to cold and a late frost will severely set them back, so keep them protected, especially at night, until all fear of frost has passed and the plants are established. Ongoing care is straightforward and watering is key. Baskets can lose water very quickly, especially if they’re in particularly sunny or windy positions, but they must never be allowed to dry out, so check them every day, without fail! Always water thoroughly, any excess will drain away through the punched holes, you can add a weekly liquid feed after about 6 to 8 weeks. Dead-head faded flowers regularly to encourage more blooms to develop for a long-lasting show. It’s simple really, the possibilities are huge, you don’t even have to stick to flowers, you could try herbs, tumbling tomatoes, strawberries, or even salad leaves, or just go for colourful foliage. Once you’ve got the aerial display sorted you can start moving downwards, filling window boxes, troughs, pots, containers, and finally your borders.
So call in soon, we’ll have all you need to create a living artwork to decorate your home this summer!
Cheers Ken,
The Garden Enclosure, Banham - blooming marvellous!
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Nature and nurture
JOBS FOR APRIL & MAY
n Give more water to houseplants n Mow lawns weekly n Protect fruit blossoms from late frosts n Keep weeds under control n Feed hungry shrubs and roses n Sow hardy annuals outdoors
CREATURE FEATURE!
In the past year, we have all been a lot more aware of our natural surroundings and the wonderful wildlife on our doorstep. Late spring is a busy time for birds, insects and mammals, so here are a few tips to help the creatures that live in your garden.
Check hedges before trimming to avoid disturbing nesting birds, and use hand tools instead of power tools until the end of the breeding season. Leave out live or dried mealworms for blackbirds and robins, but make sure hedgehogs can’t get to them, as they are extremely harmful to their health.
Create mini piles of stones or twigs in borders, or dead wood habitats such as log piles, to provide shelter for small invertebrates, amphibians and mammals. They will shelter here by day and devour slugs and other garden pests at night. You can attract pollinators by planting nectar- and pollen-rich herbs such as borage, chives, lavender, rosemary and oregano in a sunny spot. Leave a few weeds such as dandelions to provide food for wildlife.
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If you feel like you’re getting behind in the garden, or you just don’t have that much time, try these 10-minute gardening jobs that will bring you the biggest return.
Tidy climbing plants
They can easily run amok, so spend a few minutes tying-in new shoots to their supports. This will make the plant look better and you’ll avoid snapped stems caused by heavy winds or the plant’s own weight.
Keep on top of weeds
Put in a bit of effort now to get rid of them before they get too established and you’ll save bags of time in the long run, as well as giving your plants the space and nutrients they need to thrive.
Look after your lawn
If your lawn is looking a bit worse for wear, a highnitrogen fertiliser will give it a real boost and encourage new growth. To combat weeds and/or moss, apply a combined feed, weed and mosskiller.
Sit back and enjoy
Don’t forget to revel in the sensory experience of being outdoors, linger in the garden and just enjoy the flowers, sounds and scents. It makes all the hard work feel even more worthwhile. Last year was one of the hottest on record, and for gardeners that posed a challenge. So what are the best ways to use this precious resource wisely and effectively?
Decide which plants are most important to you, and water just them. Don’t waste water on the lawn or mature trees and shrubs. Water the soil, allowing moisture to penetrate deeply. Seeds and young plants benefit from a drip irrigation system, which uses minimal but constant water to keep soil moist. Water in the cool of the evening or very early morning, never in the heat of the day. When you have watered, put a mulch down on the wet soil to conserve moisture. Save every drop you use from washing veg and salads, even from washing your hands — for your garden. Use ‘grey water’ from baths and washing up, make sure you don’t use too much soap/shampoo and use it straight away, as stored grey water can harbour legionnaires disease. When rain comes, have a water butt, buckets or containers lined up to collect as much as possible.
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