Bill’s Spring Article 2023
Spring Gardening Tips
The arrival of June usually means the end of the frost season so now is the time to plant out summer bedding plants and containers. Overcrowded clumps of bulbs can be lifted and divided, including bluebells and snowdrops once the leaves have started to yellow. Newly-planted trees and shrubs should be well-watered so that they can establish themselves.
In the vegetable garden potato plants should be earthed up as they grow or compost should be added to halfway up the stem for those in grow bags. Onions and garlic can be harvested once the leaves start turning yellow and dying back and tender vegetables such as courgettes, squash and sweetcorn can now be planted out. Fruit trees will benefit from thinning out branches wherever necessary, fruit bushes should be protected with netting, and plants fruiting in containers need to be fed with high potash feed. If you have a new lawn make sure it doesn’t dry out. Use a specialist weed killer to combat rapidly-growing weeds.
If you are keen to attract butterflies you can do so by growing nectar-rich flowers which will bloom from spring until autumn. Butterflies prefer single open flowers and tubular flowers from which they draw nectar with their long tongues. They also like to feed in a sunny, sheltered location from clumps of the same species. For June flowers Butterfly Conservation recommend bird’s-foot trefoil, comfrey, granny’s bonnet, honeysuckle and thyme whilst for July to November you can provide catmint, globe thistle, ivy, Michaelmas daisy, scabious, viper’s bugloss, holly and ivy [for holly blue butterfly], garlic mustard and lady’s smock. Further encouragement can come from nestles and thistles, large stones in sunny spots to encourage basking, and a source of water, however small.
Cookridge Gardening Club have now finished their indoor meetings until October but they will be organising outdoor events during the summer months, not to mention our ANNUAL SHOW on 9th September. Information can be found on the club’s website www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk or from our secretary Katherine Hill 0113 267 1858 / katherinehill@live.co.uk
Bill Hunt of Cookridge Gardening Club
Cookridge Gardening Club
Bill’s previous article read as follows:-
“As we emerge from winter we are greeted by several demands from our gardens in the forms of: ground preparation; the planting, pruning or transfer of shrubs, flowering plants and fruit and vegetables; as well as basic maintenance tasks.
If you are considering the early sowing of vegetables then begin by removing any weeds before covering the selected ground with plastic sheeting or some other form of protective cover so that the soil warms up more quickly and becomes workable. You should then dig in at least a couple of inches of well-rotted compost or manure. Alternatively you can also add a general purpose fertiliser such as pelleted chicken manure or fish, blood and bone. If you use raised beds then they will benefit from new good-quality top soil in addition to the fertilisers.
Provided that your soil is not waterlogged or frozen then this is the time to move deciduous trees and shrubs. Along with established varieties and hedges they can be fed by lightly forking into the soil surface a slow-release fertiliser. This is also the time to plant new herbaceous perennials and summer-flowering bulbs such as lilies and gladioli. Established herbaceous perennials can be lifted and divided; cut off dead foliage to make room for new growth. Roses should be pruned to strengthen new shoots and they can be helped with a special rose feed or a balanced fertiliser. Overwintered fuchsias need to be cut back to one or two buds on each shoot. If you are planting anything which will require supports then put the supports in at the start since they will be more difficult to erect once the plant has grown.
New fruit trees can be planted in a sheltered sunny spot and both new and established varieties will benefit from mulching with manure or compost although take care not to mulch up onto the tree trunk. Take the opportunity to also plant new raspberry canes whilst existing summer-fruiting ones should be cut back to a bud just above their support and autumn-fruiting canes need to be cut back to ground level. If you have been growing rhubarb then mulch it with a thick layer manure, making sure that the crowns are left uncovered. New crowns can be planted now. For early growing strawberries cover them with cloches.
One hopes that summer will bring warmer and drier weather. This, however, will entail more watering. Install water butts wherever possible, particularly if you have down pipes from garden sheds and greenhouses or other outbuildings, so that you can take full advantage of any rainfall. It is also advisable to scrub out your watering can[s] in order to deter fungal diseases.
Cookridge Gardening Club are always pleased to welcome new members. Our indoor meetings are held in the hall of Cookridge Methodist Church, usually on the third Wednesday of the month starting at 7.30 pm. For more information please visit our website at: www.cookridgegardenclub.co.uk or contact our secretary Katherine Hill 0113 267 1858 orKatherinehill@live.co.uk”
Bill Hunt