Gardening

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.

Our weather is going to be rough for the weekend with high winds and rain showers. Then we are back to warm and sunny days with night-time temperatures much milder, 7 – 9 C degrees.

Whether we will actually get a good splash of rain or not, any dampness is welcome so I will dig up three big clumps of Primulas, split them into single plants and pot them up. I could plant the single plants back into the flower borders where they eventually will go but the little plants might get lost and I will not be able to keep them watered so having them in pots means they will be planted later in the year.

The Daffodils have just about finished and the big clumps that I want to lift and divide have a small cane next to them to remind me later, when the foliage yellows, to deal with them.

With night-time temperature much milder it is time for the Dahlias to be planted out in the big pots, I will need to add some home made compost to the old compost, mix together and the Dahlias should thrive.

The vegetables are coming on a treat but we do need to sow another lot of Beetroot and Lettuce seeds. Like last year the Parsnip seeds are not appearing which might be that the first sowing was too early so we have to take note and next year sow them a few weeks later. Still wishing to have Parsnips I have sown some single seeds into cells yesterday and hope to see results in a few days, following a friend’s advice!

We have some Willow canes left lying behind the house which have dried out enough to use as stakes to support the Delphiniums and Lupins in the flower borders and with the strong winds coming I had better get busy!

It is such a pleasure having a garden and it is a joy working in it with the birdsong and scent coming from various plants.