Goodness Me! Where Has the Time Gone?
THE VILLAGE GARDENER
Goodness Me! Where Has the Time Gone?
I’m now planting daffodils in pots ready to put into borders so that when they’ve finished flowering, I can remove the pot, give them a foliar feed and then let them die back in a quiet corner ready for the next season. Big jobs now include cutting back and separating larger clumps of perennials to give us more plants. Sweet pea seeds should be sown now for earlier plants next year. This is a good way of avoiding the hottest times next year as the later plants this year couldn’t cope in the long dry spell.
Please consider what has gone on over the last few years with the long dry spells before ordering plants for next year. Pelargoniums, herbaceous geraniums and bedding begonias are, as I said last month, a better option. The plants in gardens that have stood proud this year, have been the roses. Only once did I water the ones in our borders. The RHS are considering moving all their Hydrangeas further north, which is fine for a big organisation like them but for us we need to think carefully before purchasing any.
The extreme weather would have left the lawns weak and prone to the durable weeds which, during August, were the only bits of green on the lawn. When we do have some rain the grass will need an autumn feed and weed. Do not use the summer feed which is the full of nitrogen that will promote top growth when what we need to encourage is root growth.
At a large house in St Andrews the staff planted runner beans along the South facing border adjacent to the house on 8ft canes, and with the watering this has kept the ground floor relatively cool. By the time they’re taken down we should be in cooler weather.
After last year’s glut of fruit, especially apples, damsons and plums, this has been a fallow year. There have been some plums, but they are quite dry due to the hot spells. What fruit the trees did produce has come early as the trees are stressed and are getting ready for Autumn at least a month early. The fruits that have produced well are figs, gooseberries and blackberries that were ready to eat at the beginning of July. Blackberry thorns seem to thrive whatever the weather.
There have been cases of sudden limb drop from trees due to stress. This is a rare occurrence, but we are advised not to sit under older trees in hot spells. You will have noticed that this year a lot of trees young and old have branches that have died. This is all down to the trees cutting off life to a limb to save itself.
A tip from a lady in Sully to ease the itching from bites and stop the blighters before they prey on you, is to rub Vicks VapoRub on. It works brilliantly.
Take care & happy gardening.