Imagine Getting Back Onto The Garden
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
Imagine Getting Back Onto The Garden
With so many wet days in December and early January it was hard to imagine getting back onto the garden. The ground soon dried up after the deluge with high pressure in charge. Any exposed soil would have had a lot of nutrients washed away which will need replacing with fertiliser and compost when the growing season starts. The mild December weather saw daffodils out on the village green and snowdrops out in the church grounds. The cold spell in January will have held the Spring bulbs back now. This difficult start to the year weather wise will have an impact on nurseries. Plants that you order may be a bit late and will definitely be more expensive. Keep costs down by sowing some seeds, sunny windowsills make an ideal spot for cosmos, salvias and sweet peas in February. Kale is a real hardy plant but will need to be germinated inside before putting outside. Look out for damping off and don’t over water.
Mrs Betty James of Walston Road will have scrubbed all her empty pots and seed trays in readiness for the sowing season, she will then sieve a new bag of compost and add some perlite for drainage. By following the way Betty does things you will have a good success rate. Don’t worry if you think you’re behind as plants will soon catch up with more daylight hours. Spend a bit of time checking on the tubers and corms that you kept over Winter and discard any showing signs of rot before it spreads to the others.
The folk at the allotments will be preparing seed beds, weather permitting, and getting cloches cleaned up to put on the soil to allow it to warm up. Some seeds like broad beans are hardy enough to sow now. Some folk will have already picked some forced rhubarb by the time you’re reading this.
The Vale was hit hard last year by the box caterpillar, which decimated box hedging and shrubs. This pest has only been in the UK for about fifteen years, starting in the southeast of England. There are some chemicals which claim to be effective but the amount of re spraying needed per season makes it not cost effective. The caterpillar is hidden beneath a web and is difficult to get at. The young hide in webs between the leaves over winter and become active as the weather warms up. Then a second infestation starts in Summer. Some National Trust properties have taken any box hedging out as the situation got too difficult to manage.
The last decade has seen record rainfall over most of the UK. We are not immune to this in Wenvoe, properties in Grange Close, Old Port Road and Nant Isaf have had flood damage. We all need to think before we cover ground with concrete etc. We need to let the ground soak up the water and release it slowly and laws are coming to make sure we use permeable products when constructing new drives or hard standings. The driveway at the Old Rectory has been constructed using permeable blocks.
Take care and happy gardening