Login Email Address: Password: Remember me

Search Site:

You are here: Home | Online | Gardening Ideas | Gardening Ideas January 2010

Gardening Ideas January 2010

Post questions, comments and answers in the Gardening Ideas section on Candis Chat

---

The dawning of a New Year brings a fresh start to the garden and while all is quiet and dormant outside, I like to dream of the growing season ahead. Will this be the year when I finally get on top of weeds in the kitchen garden? How will the herbaceous peonies, moved last autumn, do in their new spot and will the carpet of strongly aromatic catmint (Nepeta 'Walker's Low') ward the wild rabbits off my rose bed and stop them from eating lower leaves and shoots?

This year I'd like all the tools to find their way back to the shed at the end of each day (cleaned), empty pots stack themselves in the pot shed and seed packets squeeze themselves back into their tins -hmm. It would also be good if slugs and snails could just get on with the important task of eating old and rotting vegetation, such as in and around the compost heap and keep well away from my salads and potatoes. I never did get the bottom of what was eating peas and carrots last year - but I suspect it was voles. Unlike most gardeners, I don't mind a few disasters, because working out what's going on and looking for solutions is a great help when I'm put on the spot to solve your gardening problems.

---

What to do in January

......in the kitchen garden

• dust down the greenhouse and grow tomatoes this year. Order by Feb 15th and you can have six plants, all different varieties, delivered March or April for £9 plus £1 p&p from Simpson's Seeds 01985 845004 www.simpsonsseeds.co.uk
• Forgot to plant garlic last autumn? If you have light soil that is neither waterlogged or frozen
• plant individual cloves now 15cm/6in apart. If your soil is heavy, cold and wet, wait until spring or start in pots under glass.
• Find room for a blackcurrant - they'll even grow in semi-shade. The new variety 'Ebony' (£8.49 plus p&p Thompson and Morgan 01473 695 225 www.thompson-morgan.com) bears large fruits sweet enough to eat raw.

---

......in the flower garden

• add lots of well-rotted manure, garden compost or other soil conditioner to areas where you intend to plant sweet peas in the spring (when the soil is workable). They'll love you for it.
• Take great care when working on borders, as bulbs of all kinds from snowdrops to daffodils and tulips will be poking their leaf tops above the ground. When planting nearby, I often cover these with upturned flower pots as protection.
• Plant a large, bowl-shaped container with Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) and any Iris reticulata hybrid (you'll find plenty of both in garden centres. Looked after well, they'll flower year after year.

---

......and in general

• Thin out clumps of bamboo by taking out weedy or damaged canes, then remove lower side shoots to reveal the attractive canes. This is a useful and lighter alternative to growing them in a thick clump.
• While much else is bare, take advantage to go round the garden and spot unwanted ivy plants growing out of control. They can ruin painted walls and often climb trees they shouldn't. Pull stems away and grub out roots.
• remember to ventilate greenhouses, weather permitting. Only frost, driving rain or high wind should prevent this. Overwintering plants are better grown 'hard' in a cool, dry, airy environment.

---

Q and A

Q: Over the last two years we've purchased two tree peonies, only to have them wither and die back within hours of planting, never to be seen again. Why is this happening and what are we doing wrong? We plant them in much the same ways as our other plants ensuring nutrients and water are plentiful.
Frank George, Keighley

A: What is astonishing here is the speed of demise. Two hours is pretty quick for a plant to keel over and die. Are you buying good plants from a reputable source? You'd expect to shell out £12-15 for a potted plant. The ideal scenario is a bed of soil that was improved a few months ago and allowed to settle. The worst would be a small hole dug in solid clay with soil conditioner put just in the hole and infill soil. When this happens, the hole acts like a sump and water gathers in the organic matter, suffocating the roots. Making sure your plant ends up at exactly the same depth in the soil as in its pot or nursery bed is also important.

---

Q: We love the crunchy, aniseed-flavoured bulbs of Florence fennel. Is it possible to grow this vegetable here?

A: I wouldn't say that Florence fennel is easy to grow (it loves a warm, sunny summer for one thing), but it can be successful here and you should definitely give it a go; you could save yourselves a fortune. Sow seed in April, choosing a sunny bed of well-drained soil. I would sow several seeds per station 10in apart and thin to one after germination, in rows 20in apart. Water well during dry spells. Some growers pull soil up around the developing 'bulbs' (they are leaf-bases really) to make them paler and sweeter.

---

Candis have teamed up with Suttons online garden specialist to bring you an exclusive
15% off discount.

Suttons Seeds is an internationally renowned supplier of flower and vegetable seeds, young plants, bulbs, fruit bushes and other horticultural products to amateur gardeners. We have a reputation for quality and service that is second to none, and a remarkable history that goes back over two hundred years. Our range of practical garden products have been chosen by our sister company Ferndale Lodge. The Ferndale Lodge team are garden equipment specialists, whose aim is to bring you innovative, quality gardening products.

HOW TO CLAIM THIS DISCOUNT

Code CN210 should be entered on the Suttons website http://www.suttons.co.uk/ and the discount of 15% will be deducted. Telephone 0844 922 0606 for a catalogue.

Valid from 18 December 2009 until 31 March 2010.
Discount does not apply to reduced items.

---