Gardener's World with Paraic Horkan NDH

March into Spring.

March is the ideal time to get a head start in the garden, grass and weed growth will commence very quickly and dictate the type and frequency of garden work to be carried out.
A little forward planning now will help to get the very best from your garden later in spring and summer.

Baby Bedding.

Young baby plants are now available for transplanting into small pots and containers to provide welcome flower colour throughout summer.
All the popular varieties are available now including Petunias, Busy Lizzies, Geraniums, trailing and border Lobelias, and Dianthus.
The basket plants including trailing petunias, beautiful verbenas and the popular white bacopa are ready now for planting.
All you need is a frost-free windowsill, patio area or greenhouse to grow this range of young plants and they will reward you with an abundance of summer colour.

Alpines in the garden.

‘If you are fond of good flower colour in borders, slopes and containers but want to avoid replanting with new bedding plants each season consider alpine plants.
Alpine’s like free draining soil and a sunny aspect to grow well and is ideal for shallow poor soils on banks raised areas or slopes.

The choice and flowering periods extends from early spring right through to early winter.
Many alpines are ideal for mixing with other border plants including shrubs and dwarf conifers.

Look for plants like ‘aubrietia’ available in different colours, ‘saxifrage’ with their evergreen foliage and dainty flowers; ‘yellow alyssum’ is good in any flower border or raised area.
The beautiful light and dark blue ‘campanulas’ are excellent for covering the ground whilst providing an abundance of colour throughout summer.

Horkys tip: After planting alpines cover the entire bed with plantex weed material and apply a dressing of colourful pea gravel. This will control weeds and provide the perfect environment for alpines to flourish.

Remember alpines are frost hardy and can be planted now to give instant and welcomed colour.

Spring and summer onions.

Fresh onions throughout the summer are a welcome site in any garden, so easy to grow, and yet so versatile.

Turbo remains one of the best all round varieties offering superb flavour backed up with reliable performance. It has proved to be one the best bold resistant varieties with excellent keeping qualities.
I recommend turbo as a late season variety to follow on from sturon.

Onions are easy to grow particularly from sets as long as the soil is reasonable well prepared and can follow on where potatoes or cabbage were grown the previous season.

For salad crops sow the popular white Lisbon onion from seed in early march indoors for planting out in early April.

Horkys tip: Sow white Lisbon every three weeks to give continuous supply up until mid winter.
White Lisbon is also offered in a winter hardy variety for sowing in mid September for use the following spring when spring onions are in short supply.

March is the ideal time to plant shallots and sets for onions from early summer to late winter.

Spring colour from Heathers.

Irrespective of the weather heather’s produce a terrific show of colour from February through to early May.

The winter & spring varieties are easy to grow in any soil type and create a long-lasting carpet of colour during these difficult months.
Heather’s need to be planted in groups of the same variety to achieve a uniform group of cover.

Group plantings of seven or nine of the one variety should be considered.

Prepare the soil before planting by adding nursery stock compost to add texture and long-lasting nutrition.
Plant with a mixture of low growing conifers or shrubs and dot in some focal plants like ilex crenata fastigata, forthegillia major, and dwarf conifers.

Horkys tip: Remember spring heather’s flower on the previous seasons growth. Trim & feed after flowering in late spring.

Horky recommends:

Erica carnea varieties are lower growing than their first cousins Erica darylensis and are more suitable in smaller beds or to plant towards the edge.

Erica carnea myreton ruby is a good deep pink bordering on red and flowering from December to late spring. Kramer’s red flowers earlier with a deep pink or purple colour, upright stems show off the flowers very well.

White heather is lucky so plant white perfection for pure white colour and as a contrast to the darker shades.

Foliage colour is also important choose Erica carnea foxhollow for its bright yellow foliage in summer turning a reddish hue as we slip into winter. Foxhollow is excellent for ground cover to brighten up any border.

Epmeterium berstern is an ideal plant to mix with heather’s for its heather like foliage that colours from deep yellow to shades of red and purple throughout the winter. Another good plant for ground cover planting.

Horkys tip: Use heathers in containers for extra colour through spring with winter pansies, primula, trailing ivies and potted spring bulbs, which are all available now for planting.

Heathers can be planted over the next couple of weeks and with most varieties coming into flower this is the ideal time to select the colours to suit your garden or container.

Remember Horkans Garden Centres in Sligo and Castlebar are open seven days Sunday 2 to 6pm. horky@iol.ie

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