Peas

Peas can be grown outside from March provided the grown is dry enough to work with, but you are not too late to plant start if you haven’t already done so.

Sow the peas in a drill about a 1” deep and about 3” apart. Drills, if doing more than one should be spaced the same distance apart as their eventual height (so if they grow 28” high, put drills 28” apart). They will sprout in about 7 days. When about 2” tall you will need to put in supports for them to climb up, unless you a plant dwarf variety. Twiggy branches (some people like to use chicken-wire as well) would do the trick. For best results a good well composted soil is required. Soil should have been dug over in autumn with well composted farmyard or garden compost. A general multipurpose fertiliser can be added to the plot about 2-3 weeks before you start planting. Your crop will be ready to pick in about 12 weeks, pick the pods when almost full and peas are almost touching but before they start to go hard.

There are many varieties of peas to choose from. I’m using Hurst Greenshaft. It has good resistance to mildew and pea wilt. It also crops well, giving 10 wrinkled peas per pod (pods depending on variety will give anything from 4 -12). Another benefit is that it makes for easy picking as its pods are produced on only the top 12” of the 30” plant.

I’ve started mine off in pots in the glasshouse and will spread the resulting plants between glasshouse and garden and compare results with you later! So far it encouraging, with nearly all pots showing signs of life and doing well. Hurst Greenshaft produce a lovely sweet tasting pea which freezes well and as with all pea varieties, benefit from continuous picking to prolong fruiting period.

Happy Gardening, and let me know how you get on with whatever variety you chose.

Broad Bean & Runner Beans

Both runner and broad beans are easy to grown , in a sunny well composted part of your garden . Both are tradionally grown up supporting canes and both produce attractive flowers prior to fruiting for those that fancy incorporating them into your flowerbeds .Runner beans usually produce a striking red flower while the broad bean produce a white/lilac flower. While both like a well composted sunny spot there are differences – broad beans can be planted out in November to get a head start for an early crop ,while its not advisable to plant out your runner beans until the last frosts have passed .

Runner Beans – Plant about 2” deep and 12” apart from mid-May onwards. If you can protect by using cloches you’ll be able to plant a month earlier. For earlier crops, plant seed from early March under protection of a glasshouse / window-sill and harden off your young plants (get them gradually used to colder temperatures) before planting out in the garden. I’m using a variety called “STREAMLINE” this year and as FLOWERS & FOLIAGE specialise in growing planted containers,I’m planting mine in 40cm pots and will support them with bamboo canes. 

If you’re going to plant them in the garden you might like to either plant two rows about 18” apart and use crossed cane supports or in a circle and have all the canes meet in the middle – rather like I’m doing with the pot grown ones only on a larger scale . Both add a very striking feature to either vegetable or flower garden , and even the pot grown ones can be placed into a “bald patch” in your flower beds to add height & interest. These should be ready to start harvesting end July onwards.

Broad Beans – sow your beans 9” apart and 3” deep. Again you will need to support the plant as it grows so it’s a choice again of you wig-wham crossed supports or circular. Once again I’m opting for pot growing but it’s just personal choice and of course it hasn’t been influenced by the fact I have a glasshouse at my disposal! When the broad beans are in full flower pinch out the tops, it has a number of benefits – producing an earlier bigger crop and reduces the risk of black fly attack (they like the softer young growth at the top). 

 Neither bean variety will benefit from being planted beside either beetroot or any of the onion family. Maize (corn) benefit from the nitrogen released by the roots of the broad beans. Rosemary also is a good companion plant for the bean family as it repels a lot of bean parasites, like bean beetle.

There are lots of garden centres and stores that are selling young vegetable plants, which you plant the same way as described for seed but will speed up the process.

 I tried both broad bean “DREADNOUGHT “and runner bean “STREAMLINE”. Both strips of young plants were to have 8 plants in them but I received a few more in each of them. They were strong healthy plants and I don’t foresee any trouble getting an early crop from them. It might tempt any of you would be growers, who are still worried about planting seed to give vegetable growing a try – go on!

 What ever way you decide to plant your vegetables this year , seed or young plants - happy gardening .

Hostas

There are lots of perennial plants that you can divide if they are getting out of hand where they are planted. This is of more importance if you have perennial plants planted in pots. They become “pot bound” – they simply outgrow the pot and the roots have nowhere to go but round and round the bottom of the pot. But the good thing is you get two or three extra new plants when you divide them.

                         

This is what I did a little while ago with a whole load of Hostas I had planted in pots for a few years. Take the whole plant out of the pot. Then depending on how pot bound it is, divide them into 2, 3 or 4 pieces.

Mine were pretty bad so I divided them into 4 pieces. I then planted them into four pots, placing the new plant in the centre and filling in with multipurpose compost around it. I mixed in a slow release feed that is designed to last 12-14 months to give a little extra feed, but you could also just remember to either liquid feed your plant or hand dress it with a little slow release feed on top.

Using John Innes compost or mixing a little top soil in with your compost would also increase the nourishment for the plant. Water in well, and always remember to water containers well as they can’t take any water/feed from the ground. Rain is rarely enough to keep container watered properly. Also make sure you place drainage holes in the bottom of the pots – I have seen rain waterlogging pots that have no drainage in them. Very few plants like their roots waterlogged.

Hostas are mainly grown for their foliage but do send up spikes of bell shaped flowers, usually white, pink or lilac in colour. They are a fully hardy herbaceous (that dies down to soil level in winter) plant that prefers either shade or a semi-shaded sheltered area. They like a semi rich soil with a certain amount of water. Normally they grow to a height of 1 metre with a similar spread, though you can get dwarf varieties. They come in a variety of blue/green colours and a number of variegated white/green and yellow/green versions. Used to enhance boarders, cottage garden and containers, they have numerous uses and will add interest to whatever style of garden your trying to create. A word of warning though – slugs and snails love their leaves. I don’t like using chemicals to keep pests at bay but I make one exception for my hostas and use liquid SLUG CLEAR to keep slug free. It’s the same make up as the slug pellets but much safer if you have animals around the garden.

Until next time - happy gardening !

Whitefly Greenfly Aphids ?

Anyone pestered with whitefly/greenfly/aphids?

After planting numerous containers with petunia I noticed I have a family of them! Well, I rarely resort to chemical sprays so I dug up a few of Granny Gaules tried and trusted remedies  to attack the problem and so far so good.



Water: if the infestation isn’t too bad you can simply spray the affected area and knock them off the plants. Sounds too simple, but it often works if as I said the problem is caught in time. Be careful where you spray them onto though – you want to get rid of them, not get them to move house!





Companion planting: this is more of prevention rather than a cure. It won’t have any major effect if you already have the problem, but planting certain plants together have proven to be very effective in reducing predators to one or both. Planting African Marigolds, French Marigolds (tagetes), Nasturtiums, Onions/chives/garlic, Zinnia and Sunflower have the effect of reducing or eliminating attacks of greenfly/whitefly/aphids. So think before you plant to avoid a whole range of pests. We’ll come back to this topic in the near future and give it a more comprehensive airing.



Garlic Spray: this spray is made up using nontoxic components and is very effective against a range of similar type visitors – greenfly whitefly aphids and red spider mite.

Required -

·       120 ml of liquid soap ( but not detergent )

·       3 cloves of Garlic

·       1 cup of cooking/soya bean oil

·       1 gallon of water

Crush the garlic and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Leave for 24 hours to mix. Strain and use the liquid as a spray. Make sure you get the underside of the leaves. The oil blocks the spiracles through which they breathe and the soap makes sure the mixture/spray sticks.



Tabaco Spray:  this is effective but were really going back in time now, but be careful using this on tomatoes / or in greenhouses with tomatoes. they can be susceptible to Tabaco mosaic virus and the jury’s still out as to whether the risk is eliminated by using cigarette butts instead of broken up Tabaco  - some say intense heat involved in smoking kills virus and some don’t agree – so if in doubt avoid use.

Required –

·       Cup of Tabaco/cigarette butts

·       1 gallon of water

·       Drop or two of soap ( to make it stick )

Mix Tabaco/butts with water and leave for 24/48 hours, should be like the colour of weak tea when ready. Any darker dilute. Nicotine will kill pests when sprayed on plants.



Hope this helps all effected with these little blighters !


Happy Gardening

Sweetpea

Anyone that likes fragrant cut flowers in abundance cannot but like Sweetpea.They produce an abundance of flowers from June to September / October when planted in a sunny aspect of your garden. For those that prefer vegetable growing, Sweet pea provides a valuable attraction to bees and other insects that will aid pollination of all your plants.

Seed can be planted indoors from Jan-Mar, or outdoors from Mar-April depending on our weather. Either plant into seed trays or individually into plug trays. Sow about 4cm (1.5”) apart and 1cm (1/2”) deep. Water well and keep at 15-20 C (60-70F). Germination can be slow so don’t panic if they take several weeks to show. Keep the compost moist during this time and allow plenty of air circulation. Pinch out the top of the seedlings when they have produced three or four leaves, this entices them to produce new strong basal shoots. From late April you can plant out your young plants after gradually Harding them off. If planting in a row plant about 23cm (9”) apart or about 18cm (6”) apart of in a circle. They grow about 1.8m high (6’) at least so they will need support from either bamboo canes /twiggy sticks/trellis or you can plant them through something that already has support like clematis. Keep the flowers removed until the plant is at least 3’ high. Water well in dry spells.

As well as planting seed , I bought some sweet pea plants from the local garden centre just in case some of you don’t want the pleasure of waiting weeks so see if your seed will grow ! (But of course it will... be patient.) I’m also going to plant these in 40cm pots, supported by canes, so I can place them where I want in the garden. They  are great if a “hole” suddenly appears in the flower bed or to give a little height to the rear of a flower bed, but I will say most will probably end up around the patio where we can not only enjoy the colours but also their amazing scent.                       I’ve placed five canes around the pot and placed bunches of three plants in three locations in the pot. I know I’ve been more than generous but the plants split easily that way so …

As they grow I’ll train them up the canes and they will give a great show all summer. Most of what we plant in the garden will also grow on pots and containers so don’t be afraid to experiment – seed/plant companies rarely say this though on their planting instructions.

No matter where you intend planting them, please do so and as always happy gardening.  

Tomatoes, Strawberries & Herbs in Hanging-Basket

Well, we planted up our Summer Hanging-Baskets last time and this time round I thought I'd give you a few other ways to enjoy your hanging baskets - and be able to produce your own grown fruit & veg at the same time.

Tomatoes: the best tomatoes suitable for hanging baskets are the tumbler varieties such as "Tumbling Tom”. I couldn’t find any tumbling variety in young plant form to demonstrate basket making so I resorted to seed and we'll come back to the basket preparation later.

I decided also to try planting the tomatoes into fibre pots. These can then be planted directly into the hanging basket when big enough - pot and plant. This gives the plant a further head start because you’re not disturbing the roots as you transplant - and you do, no matter how careful you are, in the traditional pot method.
The roots grow through the fibre pots and they disintegrate eventually in the basket.

 I filled and laid out 22 pots in a seed tray (anything that will keep them upright), and gave them a good watering.
My packet of Sutton’s seeds gave me a generous 22 seeds per pack - and they suggest one plant per 12" basket .That’s a lot of tomatoes & baskets for your few euro! I'm going to use 14" baskets when they are ready so I thing I'll put two young plants in. The seed is small but easy enough to handle, and place one seed per pot and sieve about 6mm (1/4 in) of fine compost on top. Keep pots moist and keep at 18-21C (65-70F) on the windowsill or glasshouse. They will take about 7-12 days to germinate and we can transplant then when they are nice & strong, directly into the baskets. This way saves pricking out seedlings after they germinate into pots of around 3”.

Strawberry Baskets: I had a little more luck in finding strawberry plants. I picked up three different variety’s to try out - Honeoye (early - midseason) Elsanta (midseason) and an alpine variety (small, but easy to grow and said to have the best taste. We'll plant the lot and see what produces the best results - both quantity & taste.

Fill the 14" hanging baskets the same way as usual - multipurpose compost and slow release feed and water well, I'm putting three plants of the same variety into each - again I think they look better if the grow at the same rate, but if you’re not bothered or don’t want three baskets you could chose an early, mid and late variety and put them together to really prolong your cropping season.

I'm going to speed things up by leaving them in my glasshouse, but any sunny spot should produce results. Birds do like the fruit though so protect with netting if this becomes a problem. As with any hanging basket, don’t let them dry out - water daily in warm weather but do check daily anyway.





Herb baskets: Another handy way of using your baskets is to plant them with your favourite herbs. As well as looking good all year round - if you pick the perennial herbs, you can hang them beside your kitchen door for easy access to your own herb garden.
Herbs I’ve found to do well are Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Parcel (a herb that looks like parsley but tastes like celery!) Chives. Can’t really thing of one that won’t , but mint would be better in its own pot as it is inclined to need more room and takes over - either garden or pot.
Put in what you like to use, it’s always the best method, no point growing what you won’t use.



Hope you like what I've been trying out, have very positive comments on some herb baskets I've given out on trial - let’s hope I get the same positivity from the Strawberries & Tomatoes!

 As always happy gardening.

Summer Hanging Baskets

First of all I’m sorry for the absence of my blogs over the past few weeks, Flowers & Foliage had been planning a move to new glasshouses in Dublin from our facilities in Co Kilkenny but we had planned it to happen over the quieter winter months – not just before thousands of plants arrived and needed planting – but we’re well on track now if not totally sorted.

One of the planting tasks I’ve been busy with is the Summer Hanging Baskets. If you have a greenhouse/glasshouse/polytunnel you can plant your baskets now using small bedding type plants for a magnificent summer colour show. Lots of the Garden Centres are selling small summer bedding at present but it’s far too early to consider buying unless you can offer protection against frost. You’d be better off waiting a little while longer and getting slightly larger plants – you’ll lose very little that way in growing terms but stand not to lose the whole lot to frost.

I’m showing how to plant baskets using very small plants (plugs), into 14” wicker baskets. Fill the basket with compost mixed with a little slow release fertiliser; leave enough room at the top of the basket to be able to water without the water immediately flowing out. Start you planting by putting in a centre plant – any of those listed below that you like. Make sure you firm in the plant up to the level it was previously planted at.

Then I place about 6 plants – 2 of each type chosen, from the second list of Side Plants, opposite each other. I think you get better results if you place same plants opposite each other – different plants can have different growing habits and can lead to a “one sided” looking basket .

When picking your plants try to include Trailing Petunia (Surfinia, Whispers, Sanguna - there’s a few different types but they do give a great display) and Trailing Fuchsia as they both spread well and fill the basket to give maximum effect.

DON’T LET YOUR BASKETS DRY OUT – They need watering every day in the summer when mature.

CENTRE PLANTS

·       Pelargonium Zonale Geranium

·       Fuchsia

·       Pelargonium peltatum Geranium (trailing – as vigorous as possible!)

·       Plectranthus

·       Bidens

SIDE PLANTS

·       Surfinia Petunia

·       Trailing Verbena

·       Trailing Fuchsia

·       Lysimachia

·       Lobelia

·       Bacopa

·       Trailing Begonia – either Illumination or Tenella

ANYONE INTERESTED IN A FREE HANGING BASKET KIT?

First 10 people to email me at address given below will recieve a kit containing all required to produce a hanging basket as described above.

Kit contains :

•  14" Wicker Basket
• Compost mixed with 3-4month slow release feed
• All plants required

EMAIL: info@flowersandfoliage.ie

BECAUSE OF THE BULKY NATURE OF THE KIT AND LIVE PLANTS INVOLVED , I CAN ONLY SUPPLY/DELIVER TO DUBLIN AND SURROUNDING AREA - SORRY ABOUT THAT.

Untill next time happy gardening