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

No Glasshouse – No Problem!

There are a number of ways we can beat the weather when gardening. Weather normally dictates when we sow, what we sow and when we harvest our crops – but we can take measures that will at least give us a helping hand.

1.       GROWING UNDER GLASS: again this usually means growing our crops under the protection of a glasshouse or polytunnel, either heated or unheated, to create a warmer environment so we can plant& harvest earlier or grow plants our climate wouldn’t naturally let us do. But don’t panic if you neither have the space or money to erect either, because by using steps laid out in No’s 2, 3, & 4 (below) we can still get ahead off the posse.

2.       WARMING THE SOIL: With the use of cloches or a layer of plastic sheeting, we can warm the soil enough to give our seed/seedlings a good head start. A week or two prior to planting should be enough. You could leave the sheeting in place and plant by cutting holes/slits at the required intervals, if you don’t mind seeing plastic over your drills. This method would vastly improve soil temperatures while growing and give the benefit of both suppressing  weeds and keeping fruit/vegetables cleaner

3.       HEATED WINDOW-SILL: by starting your seeds inside on a warm window-sill that gives light but not direct sunlight, you can plant your seeds earlier - weeks earlier in most cases and that means an earlier harvest. By transplanting them into the heated soil later when they become too big for your window sill, you will have given them a great jump start – rather than planting seed directly into unheated soil. One thing to remember though, plants will grow toward the light so you will need to turn them daily if you want nice straight stems for planting later.

Geraniums left unprotected outside our Dublin home.

 Geraniums over wintered inside .

     

      Dont under estitmate the value of your heated home to produde early plants or protect plants over winter - see both unprotected and protected Geraniums

4.       CLOCH PROTECTION AFTER PLANTING: After we transplant our seedlings into our heated soil, they would still benefit from some protection against the elements. If you have purpose built cloches great, but again there are cheaper ways around this. By cutting the ends off clear plastic bottles (but leave the top on), fitting them over the plant and pushing it into the soil you have created a mini-glasshouse for your plant.

mini cloch  - botton off & leave top on.

You can use the methods stated above for a whole host of plants: Beans, peas, lettuce, leeks, turnip, tomatoes, peppers, etc. and over the next few weeks we will mention how to plant these to get the best out of each individual plant. Another benefit from this type of growing is you will only transplant strong healthy plants and at required spacing (so no more thinning plants - saving time & money).

Until next time - Happy Gardening

Planting Onion Sets

Onion sets can be planted now, and up to April, into well manure /well raked ground that is also well drained. If your soil is on the heavy/clay side you can lighten it with course sand/grit mixed with organic matter.

Plant the onion sets into the well raked but firmed ground about 4” apart and with rows about 12” apart. (That’s about 10cm and 30cm in new money!)  Plant the sets about 1” deep but just have the very top of the set showing above the ground. If the “tail” of the set is too long snip it off with a scissors, because if you leave them too long birds will pull them out. Weeding is really the only aftercare required as you don’t need to thin out onion sets like you would need to if we had planted seedlings. As onion leaves sprout upwards they don’t really suppress weeds naturally. You can use companion planting not only to ward off pests but to suppress weeds as well. Onion-fly can be deterred by planting Parsley and/or Radishes (a little later!) between the drills of onions. Avoid crushing the leaves of the onions while weeding or if you find the need to thin out your plants – the smell of sap will increase the risk of onion-fly attacks.  Onions shouldn’t   be planted beside peas or beans as the plants won’t do well beside one another. We can hope to harvest this crop around August depending on weather and when planted. The leaves will topple over and start to yellow when ready, I then like to loosen them in the ground with a garden fork and they will start to ripen. The leaves will totally wither/yellow within a week to ten days and can then be lifted and placed on a wire rack to dry out. One local neighbour always placed them on a low lying corrugated iron shed roof – with great results may I say.

While not mad expensive to buy in the shops there’s nothing like growing your own and I think they are always stronger too. I bought the variety STRUTTGARTER RIESEN to try this year from my local supermarket (J C Savage of Swords) for €2.99. Great value! Don’t know how may sets I got but it looks like I’ll be planting all week.

                                                       

              Stuttgarter Riesen                                                                               Lots of Planting ahead!

Don’t be put off planting a little patch of vegetables this year – you don’t need a huge plot .If you don’t have a dedicated vegetable garden , incorporate them into the flower beds, or use containers on the patio or balcony .You’ll be surprised how well they'll do .

Happy Gardening and let me know how you’re getting on.

BlackSpot on Roses

Blackspot on roses is caused by a similar fungus to potato blight and thrives in similar conditions – warm, moist & stagnant air. You might well ask how so many roses are affected by it so! , but effected they will be unless you treat it by spraying regularly - every week. The fungus (Diplocarpon Rosae for those that must know!) will not kill your roses but will cause them to weaken by loss of their leaves and to flower poorly as a result.

There are several chemical sprays available but I prefer to use the homemade greener sprays listed below as an alternative. If you alternate your spray each week or two I think it always works better. When spraying chose a dry day and make sure you also spray underneath the leaves as well. If there is any blackspot on the leaves, remove these leaves plus any fallen leaves and burn them, rather than composing them.

You could start spraying now as the leaves are starting to show and get in ahead of the fungus, and continue every two to three weeks until the weather warms up and then increase to every week.

Baking Soda Fungicide:

1 tablespoon of baking soda/potassium bicarbonate

1 tablespoon of either horticultural oil/molasses/citrus oil

1 gallon/4.5 litres water

Vinegar Fungicide:

3 tablespoons of cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of either horticultural oil/molasses/citrus oil

1 gallon/4.5 litres water

As always happy gardening!

Preparing Potatoes and Planting Currant Bushes

Currant Bushes

These fruit bushes really do provide a great crop when established and now is a great time to plant. Red and white currants are best suited to a light free draining soil, while black currants like heavier moisture holding clay type soil. You can adjust the type of soil you have, to accommodate both, by adding a combination of course sand/organic matter (manure, compost, straw etc.) to heavy soil to lighten it,  or leaf mould/manure to light soil to help retain moisture.

Plant the bushes in a sunny or semi shaded area about 4ft apart, and have the roots covered by about 3” of soil (as in diagram 1). Make sure they are well firmed in and secure. Prune the bush immediately, by cutting back each branch to about 6” long (as in diagram 2).  The idea is to encourage the bush to produce new growth; growth produced this summer will produce fruit next summer. Cut out all branches that have fruited each year (after picking!) to encourage the new growth again. Once established these plants will fruit for up to 20 years.

With red and white currents it’s slightly different, in winter cut back leading upright shoots by about half their length and all side shoots to 1”. In summer side shoots can be reduced to about 6 leaves, but don’t touch upright leading shoots

Potatoes.

If you have moved into a new house or haven’t been gardening, planting potatoes is a great way of improving the soil in your garden. The soil will be greatly improved even after one season, being more friable, as the potato is a great soil cultivator.  Potatoes do best in a rich, sandy loam that is moisture retentive but free draining. We’ll be getting into more detail when we come to plant in late march early April.

 Now we need to think about ordering the seed potatoes you require, and chitting them (getting them to sprout a little before planting). Calculate how much seed you’ll need first, ( you’ll get about 15 seed potatoes  per kg – and you’ll be planting 15” apart  , in  rows about the same distance apart)

Place your seed potatoes in egg boxes “rose end up” in a light, frost free airy location. If too warm or dark potatoes will sprout too aggressively.

     "Rose end" -top                       Stalk end - bottom                too dark or warm -
                                                                                                 aggressive growth.




Happy gardening.

Hardwood Cuttings

Last week we discussed how to get free exotic interior plants from Christmas pips and stones, well it’s just as easy to produce trees and shrubs from hardwood cuttings. These are taken between autumn and spring while the plants are dormant, and while they will take up to a year before there ready to be transplanted, it is an easy way to cheaply propagate new stock for your garden.

Plants suitable for hardwood cuttings include: Roses, Fruit (gooseberries, red, white & black currants, etc.) Trees, Climbers (honeysuckle, Jasmine) Shrubs (forsythia, buddleja, cornus etc.) and Evergreens (cotoneaster, holly, private & skimmia)

Taking the hardwood cuttings.

Using a good clean, sharp secateurs (to prevent/reduce risk of any fungal infections) cut long woody branches about the width of a pencil but no wider than your thumb. Cut these into sections about 8” long.

Make the bottom cut at a 45 degree angle just below a leaf node, as above. 

Cut the top straight across just above a leaf node. This way you won’t forget what’s top or bottom when you come to planting! You can plant either into the garden direct, trench in garden or as I prefer into a pot filled with well drained compost. Whatever way you decide to plant your cuttings – do mark what they are, you won’t remember what they are next autumn if you don’t. It’s another reason why I plant into pots, too many times while cleaning flower beds I’ve removed unmarked cuttings as rubbish!

Cuttings planted around edge of 40cm container.

Planting into pots, I place the cuttings around the edge about 3” apart, and about 2/3 of the cutting under compost. Water in well and place in a cool humid place for best results. I'll transplant these out next Autumn when they have developed a good root system of their own. Make sure they dont dry out in Summer, especially if you plant them in pots like I have ,as they'll dry out quicker than those planted in flowerbeds or trenches. For Evergreens you’ll need to cover with plastic from the start and mist with water to avoid them drying out.

As ever, happy gardening and don’t forget to keep the suggestions coming for item you’d like to see in the Blog

Free House Plants?

Anybody want some free exotic house plants?

Well why not try planting some of the pips and stones of more unusual fruits that we have all been eating over the Christmas time. Lemons, Limes, Oranges, Tangerines, Dates, Apricots, Avocado and olives would all make an exotic and interesting houseplant.

Fill a few 10cm pots with good multi-purpose compost, one pot for each variety you intend to plant. Plant the pips about 2cm deep, and about 2-3cm apart. compost, one pot for each variety you intend to plant. Plant the pips about 2cm deep, and about 2-3cm apart. You should get about 3 -4 pips per pot or maybe 1-2 stones. Water the planted pips/stones and cover the pots when planted with a little clear plastic to retain the moisture, and place pots in a dark & warm place to germinate. When they have germinated/sprouted, remove the plastic covers and then place them into the light. Don’t let them dry out, but don’t drown them either. As they continue to grow, feed them with a diluted liquid feed about once a month. When they need replanting chose a larger stronger pot than the thin plastic ones we used to plant the pips and stones in, they may need to endure not only a large plant but also being moved quite a bit! As they like well-drained soil, consider John Innes / Multi-purpose compost mixed with perlite / course sand. Continue to feed monthly. Although this group of plants come from sunnier shores they will happily live as house plants here and even outside in the warm summer months, but slowly acclimatise them if placing them out for summer – out during warm days and in at night until they get used to being out. All citrus trees like a little humidity, especially during the colder months, so either spray foliage frequently or place pot in a tray of pebbles and water. A word of warning though - if plants are placed in a draft they will shed their leaves.

Happy gardening.

Is there any topic you would like me to cover?

If so please let me know - all suggestions welcome, and I’ll try to slot them in .