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Roseisle-News.com

Community Blether

Gwynne Hetherington

Garden Tips#21/04

April 14, 2021 by Gwynne Hetherington

What I can make out with the weather forecast for the next week to 10 days is that temperatures are slowly on the way up, another two to three nights of minus one C degrees and dry sunny days with temperatures from 8-10 C degrees.

Well, we certainly won’t forget this Spring in a hurry, the north winds have been bitterly cold and we hardly stepped out into our garden, only to feed the birds twice a day and give them fresh water, how they survived in the severe weather goodness only knows and they are still singing their socks off! Even the buds on the fruit trees have held back waiting for milder days and nights! It feels as if the trees are on tenterhooks waiting as long as possible before they burst open!

In the warm afternoons I have pottered round the garden, weeded the flower borders yet again mainly looking out for Hairy Bittercress and looking for signs of life in various shrubs which have been affected by the “Mini Beast from the East” earlier in the year. There are hopeful signs for the Buddleias and Hebes with buds showing further down the plant.

In a few days we shall prune back the Buddleias and Hebes. With the Hypericums, Escallonias, Olearia, Bay trees and Bamboos there will be a more cautious approach where we need to cut back into the shrubs till we come to live wood and hopefully bring the plant back into forming buds. The Dogwood and Fuchias and ornamental grasses get pruned back hard to the fresh new growth at the base of the plant.

The window sills in two rooms of our house have been holding the seedlings I sowed a few weeks earlier and they are more than ready to prick out and pot on into individual pots, but there is still time to sow annual and perennial seeds, especially single flowered ones to encourage beneficial insects, to fill any gaps in the borders.

It is wonderful to hear and see the first Bumblebees and Honey Bees flying around early flowering plants, they love the Anenome blanda and the Heathers. To keep encouraging the insect life during the Summer we have set aside two very small areas in the back lawn for a wild flower mini meadow so in a week we shall sow the meadow mix and plant annuals which are still to be pricked out and planted into that area as well.

Little jobs like deadheading the Daffodils every other day, making plant supports out of Willow sticks or hoops from stock fencing, the pond needs to have the pump reinstalled and the net taken off will keep us occupied. Then some more sowing of Lettuce seeds into modules, also hoeing the vegetable beds before sowing the Carrot, Beetroot, Peas, Beans, Turnip and Spinach seeds etc. Lastly the planting of the leeks and more onion sets all of which will get watered before and after sowing and planting!

I think my head is spinning now so I had better stop and take one day at a time and enjoy what we are doing, the rewards will follow later, we are truly lucky to love what we do in our garden.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Garden Tips#21/3

March 14, 2021 by Gwynne Hetherington

Slowly we are seeing temperatures rising up to 7-10 C degrees during the day and night time temperatures around 3C degrees. We are keeping the western winds. Daylight is now stretching noticeably with sunrise at about 6.30 AM and sunset at about 18.15 PM.

What a lift to our spirits the longer daylight hours give us, starting with the morning bird chorus. The buds on the trees and shrubs are swelling and some tender leaves of the Whitewashed Bramble are coming forth, all a sign that Spring is here. Now is the time to watch your garden come to life -the most exciting time of our gardening calendar, little miracles happening every day!

It is also a busy time to do those many little tasks. The Begonia tubers need to get started into growth by placing the tubers into a shallow tray with general compost around them. Place the tray in the greenhouse and keep the compost moist and do not let it dry out. New growth will appear in the weeks to come and then the Begonias can be planted into the final position for the season.

Two years ago we got ‘professionals’ in to improve our lawn. That proved a complete waste of money however we did learn something – if you want something done properly do it yourself! We have scarified our lawn but there are still some thick areas to go back to and redo, what an amount of moss we have scratched out! It is mind blowing! Anyway the lawns look healthier and not so congested.

Then there is more sowing of annuals and vegetable seeds to get on with, the Tomato, Courgette, Sweetcorn and the Brassicas. We have Charlotte and Salad Blue Potato tubers to plant out in the next week too. Our Strawberry plants look weather-beaten and need tidying up by removing the old leaves. I pinched out the Sweet Peas and will harden them off in the poly tunnel. Our house plants badly need to be repotted as they did not get that pampering last year!

At some point we have to empty our compost bin, it is gorgeous stuff, it is a great soil improver and helps conserve the moisture during the summer months, so we will spread the compost around plants and on our flower borders.

The winter pruning of our roses will start shortly. As to the pruning of the Buddleias, the Cornus, the Fuchsias and the Hydrangeas, they will have to wait for a few weeks yet till we see new growth of buds or young fresh shoots. The wind damage to the Hypericums, the Escallonias and the Bamboos we will keep an eye on and see if fresh growth appears then we know how far back we have to prune.

Whatever you are up to, busy or not, enjoy this Spring season, the bursting of flowers in all the glorious colours, the Snowdrops, the Crocuses, the Anenomes, the Daphnes and the Celandine. It is nature at its best!

Filed Under: Gardening

GardenTips#21/02

February 24, 2021 by Gwynne Hetherington

What a change the last week has brought us from snow and freezing temperatures and biting winds to sunny and mild days which are to continue for the next 10 days or more with the night temperatures from this coming Sunday to Tuesday dropping to 2 or 1 C degrees and moderate winds.

We certainly have had strong, gusty and cold winds, the mini Beast from the East, bringing down dead wood in both the mature and young woodland, even plastic bags and polystyrene found their way into the garden! Sadly a number of shrubs especially Hebes and Hypericums have suffered badly and only time will tell if they will recover, even the roses look very unhappy! Being an optimist and believing in nature’s survival of continuity, things will recover!

We have pruned and shaped our Viburnum and Buddleias globosa and x weyeriana. The Buddleias of Black Knight, the mauves, the whites and the pinks will get their more severe pruning towards the end of March. The Hawthorn, our native species and Cotoneaster hedges have had a cut before the birds think of nesting. The winter heathers too have had a trim.

Our feathered friends, the birds, are still very grateful for the feed we put out for them, although the demand on apples has tapered off a bit. With the birdsong around us I have started cutting back the flower borders and am delighted to see a number of Ladybirds resting among the dried up leaves!

Meanwhile David has turned the dung and ryegrass into the potato bed ready for planting our tatties later in March.

Work in our ruin in conjunction with building the stone tower is taking its time, there is a lot of excavation of earth, stones and big rocks to deal with, the bigger stones end up in the middle while the smaller stones get packed nearer the outside of the stone tower. The big boulders with at least two flat sides are placed on the outside wall and the more rounded rocks are swallowed up inside the tower.

Sowing of seeds has also started and it is always a little miracle of hope when seedlings unfurl and a new beginning of a plant starts its development and you cannot but smile at every emerging seedling! The same can be said about the Snowdrops here and there which is a joy to see, enjoy your garden as it opens up to the Spring!

Filed Under: Gardening

Garden Tips#21/01

January 21, 2021 by Gwynne Hetherington

A Happy New Year gardeners and nature lovers.

What a spell of wet and cold weather we are having with frosty mornings! Needless to say we are in the last few winter months so we should expect wintery conditions still to come.

This is a good opportunity to take time and plan ahead what it is you want from your garden especially what seeds to order for the vegetable beds and perennials and annuals for the flower borders. My list of to do things is growing to a pageful of tasks. We try and support the local nurseries but this year have had to resort to online ordering of seeds.

It won’t be long to start sowing seeds eg, leeks and sweet peas and the rest will follow with the anticipation of checking every day if the seeds have germinated and so too the days will lengthen and the new season of growing will commence yet again! What excitement to look forward to!

Once this wild weather moves away and temperatures rise above zero I will weed through the flower borders one last time, the annual weeds are easy to see as they are in the green and easy to pull out.

The snowdrops are through with the petals tight shut and in the next warm sunshine the white petals will open and give pleasure to us, the hellebores too are ready to show their splendour but with them we shall cut back (our first time ever) the old leaves to let the emerging flowers have free space and reduce hellebore leaf spot, although we don’t have a problem with that yet.

Due to bacterial canker in one of the gean trees we had to take that one down altogether due to the severity of the spread of the canker. In its place we planted a Czar plum tree and watered it in thoroughly – it is a wonderful feeling to plant a tree for its ‘presence’. Now is still a good time to plant bare root trees and shrubs till the end of March but the sooner the better.

Looking out the window the little birds are grateful for their daily apples and birdseed we put out for them and fresh water too. For you bird lovers out there we shall also be taking part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch between the 29-31 January as our annual ritual and it is great fun too. This year we can also note down our daily visits of red squirrels and who knows what else might be sighted!

Keep warm and safe and in no time the daylight hours will lengthen and new life will emerge from the ground!

Filed Under: Gardening

GardenTips07

June 28, 2020 by Gwynne Hetherington

Unsettled weather for the week to come, more showers and cooler.

We hope you all are well and enjoying your gardens. What a joy it is to see rain which is lasting more than 3-4minutes, the gardens certainly need it as do the farmers!

It has come to my attention that the Diamond-Back Moth is about and devastating the Brassicas, Aubrietia, Wallflowers and Alyssum, so if your plants are not protected with fleece or fine micro mesh I would make sure to try and cover them up. The moth is very small about 1cm in length. One life cycle is completed in 15-30 days so their numbers can increase hugely. Garlic solution, washing powder in dilute mix with water might help. Hopefully this message has reached you in time.

We are deadheading in our flower borders, cutting grass and edging the lawns and now the Strawberries are ripening and they are deliciously sweet. Next it will be the Peas and Broad Beans to pick in a week or two’s time. It is a productive time in the garden calendar which we will enjoy and what we can not use we will process and freeze to consume in the winter months.

We are making the most of relaxing in our garden taking in the scent, colours and birdsong which lifts anyone’s spirit.

Filed Under: Gardening

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