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Hello and welcome again to our monthly look at what's happening in the Gardening and Pet Worlds.
Remember we would love to hear your gardening tips and ideas, and we will try to publish these in next months issue. You can contact Horky on our Email address info@gardencentre.ie
Advice lines on 094 26997 or 071 38870SAVE YOURSELF A FORTUNE!
Why not follow the example given by Nature and sow some seeds to provide you with a fine selection of plants, at a very low cost, for planting out later on this spring. Generally all plants can be propagated by seed, with bedding plants, vegetables and herbs being the most popular. A huge range of hardy shrubs and perennials can also be produced easily.
Horky Says:
Nature has equipped seeds with everything they need to get through the soil. All you need to do is to give them the best conditions you can and they'll invariably do the rest. After that, of course, they'll need a little help from their friends.
This time of year we are generally starting to sow seeds indoors, on windowsills and greenhouses, but later on this Spring lots of Annuals and Perennials can be sown directly into the ground outdoors. The secret to the success of this is good soil preparation. The best way to start outside is to start with the 'stale' seedbed. This is a very old gardening trick that's still valid today. Cultivate the soil two or three weeks before you actually need to sow and then leave it for a while, allowing the weed seed to germinate. Then, before they themselves have a chance to seed, hoe them off. Finally prepare the seedbed and sow. Once you have eliminated that first flush of weeds your seedlings will get a good head start and should germinate in weed-free soil.
If you are thinking of setting a new lawn this April then we would strongly recommend you use this 'stale' seedbed technique to ensure the end product is a lush lawn and not a weed/grass mixture.
When seeds are sown under cover in the greenhouse or in the house, it should be possible to provide perfect conditions to enable successful germination. Indeed, with some of the more difficult subjects, it's essential to do so.
Temperatures are especially important, nearly always you can induce germination by sometime 'chilling' the seed before sowing. Lavender, and a lot of trees and shrubs seeds, benefit hugely from this. After sowing the majority of plants enjoy some warmth, again to induce and speed up the germination process.
When selecting which types of plants to sow always read the back of the pack. All seeds within the tremendous Suttons and Mr Fothergills ranges always have super information on their packs, covering all areas from sowing times to the ideal temperature required.
The 4 steps to success for sowing in a seed tray are:
- Fill the seed tray with soil-less compost and firm it a little. Beware of over firming soiless composts: pushing your fingers in at the corners and the sides of the seed tray and a couple of times in the middle is enough. Then level the compost with the top of the seed tray.
- Always water before sowing, and incorporate some systemic fungicide in this watering as this prevent any damping-off disease which is a serious problems on newly germinated seed. Ideal for this is Chestnut Compound. Watering afterwards tends to push the seeds in patches and can even wash them right out of the tray. Then sow your seed thinly over the entire surface areas.
- Then provide a thin coverage to your seed using Vermiculite. Most seeds need light to germinate and also must have a lot of moisture around them at all times. The most successful way to provide this is to use Vermiculite.
Vermiculite is a naturally produced almost clear, small granular compound. Vermiculite is superb at holding moisture, and also for preventing large fluctuations of temperature between night and day. A superb product that no keen gardener should be without. For more information please contact any of the Horky team and we'll be happy to help.
Cover the seed tray with a piece of cling film to keep the moisture in and place in a warm spot. You can supply gentle heat from beneath by putting them just above (but not on) a radiator or in a propagator - if you don't have access to a heated greenhouse.
Most unused seeds will last until the next season if they're stored properly. It's essential to keep them dry and cool, so put the packet into an airtight container - a plastic film container is ideal. Mark them clearly and put them in a cool spot.
If only small amount of seed are required, sowing your seed in pots using the same method and ingredients as if you were using a seed tray.Sowing in Modules
This is a modern method of sowing, which we use in our own Nursery, and is extremely useful for certain subjects, particularly those that dislike root disturbance. Instead of being sown in treys or pots, the seeds are put into plastic modules with several separate cells per tray. This saves damaging the roots when transplanting, making for stronger, earlier plants, and it saves all the work of pricking out. Simply follow the same method as if you were planting in a normal seed tray but only put 1 seed per cell.
Modules are great for multiple sowing vegetables like onions and leeks with about six seeds per cell. They are not thinned but planted out at slightly wider spacing than normal. They simply push each other out of the way and grow into perfect-sized vegetables with little or no distortion.
Seed varieties, which are brand new to the seed market this year and will prove to be true winners, include these three crackers: New from Suttons seeds we have the delightful Hanging Basket Sweet Pea 'Sweetie'. This new species of the ever popular Sweet Pea has been specially bred for hanging baskets and is well expected to be very popular, largely due to its dwarf, compact cascading habit radiating multi coloured scented paper-like blooms.
Lobelia 'Monsoon' is another new species of an all-time favourite. Monsoon has delightful dark blue flowers, which are perfectly set against bronzy green foliage. Very similar in colour to the compact Lobelia Crystal Palace, but with all the attributes of traditional trailing Lobelia varieties.
Alysumm 'Wandering Star' is the first trailing Alysumm. Well worth trying for its honey-like perfume, the vast range of colours available and for the unusualness of using Alysumm where you would normally use Lobelia
Everybody knows that nothing tastes as good as vegetables you grow yourself, so why not experiment a little this season and try to grow-your-own.
Vegetables and herbs can be easily grown in pots, in flower borders, window boxes and I bet you've never seen the wonderful smooth skins you get on potatoes grown in bags of Compost. Juicy and tasty....just heat and add butter....MMmmm Well get out there and have a go.....Seed potatoes
become widely available during this month and are ready for planting now. Potatoes thrive in a fertile soil rich in organic matter, planted about 2ft apart, so its important to thoroughly enrich the soil with lots of Manure beforehand and avoid liming unless essential as surprisingly unlike other vegetable Potatoes prefer a slightly acid soil. The additional of bulky organic matter should control any Common Scab problems you may have experienced in previous years. If you're unsure about your soils pH always check using a cheap pH test kit available from your local garden centre for under £2.
It is important with seed potatoes to buy recommended varieties, as cultivars vary in their tolerance to pest and diseases, with Potato blight being the most serious problem gardeners encounter here in the West.
Varieties, which have proved to be strong growers here, include:
Rooster. This excellent main crop produces a high yield of light yellow flesh coloured tubers. Excellent for Boiling and Baking and has good all-round disease resistance. One of the most popular home-grown potatoes here in the West.
Red Cara Another extremely heavy yielding late main crop. Mainly grown for its High resistance to potato blight and scab. An excellent potato, which we highly recommend for wet, heavy soils.
Colleen A 1st early which has almost a uniqueness of also being a high yielding spud, with super yellow flesh. Excellent for chipping and baking. Again this cultivar has good resistance to Blight and Scab and is good in heavy soils.
Fungal spores which fall from the Potatoes foliage and get washed down through the soil is the common cause of potato blight. To reduce this always earth up potatoes deeply to provide a barrier against falling spores, and choose resistant cultivars. Spray with a copper based fungicide; in wet seasons spray before the blight appears on the foliage.
The most common way for planting seed potatoes is:
- Make a drill about 5" deep and space them about 2' apart in a straight line. Generally early varieties grow smaller than main crop so these cane be planted closer together.
- Draw up the soil around the stems when the foliage is about 9" high. Earthing up prevents the tubers near the surface from turning green and being unfit to eat. Nobody likes a green spud!
If, however you're fed up of all this digging then why not try this alternative method:
- Unroll a roll of black plastic and anchor it by burying the edges. Make a cross-shaped cut where each potato is being planted and plant them about 4" deep.
- Once the foliage stem has been removed (the haulm), in autumn, pull back the plastic and your potato crop will be lying on the soil surface ready to harvest. Simple.
Top 5 jobs for the Garden this month:
- Call into Horkans Garden Centre to collect your free seed catalogues.
- Treat your lawn with sulphate of Iron to eliminate mosses and control weeds.
- When weather permits, dig over the vegetable garden and incorporate Westland Farmyard Manure of soil enricher.
- Continue to plant fruit trees and bushes, prune established trees and spray with tar oil to kill pest and diseases.
- Place shelter netting around young or tender plants to prevent against wind rock.
Remember for all your gardening questions we are only a click of the mouse away on www.gardencentre.ie and you can E-mail us on info@gardencentre.ie
We look forward to hearing from you.
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