Nursery stock advice line 01379 741999
product will start to be taken up by plants to control leaf and stem nematodes overwintered from last year. Apply to Abelia, Anemone, Buddleja, hellebores and Weigela but trial on a small number of plants if the product hasn’t been used before – some species show phytotoxicity.
4Feeding Herbicides applied earlier this year will be affected by top dressings applied now. Re-apply herbicide in about three weeks’ time to prevent early weed growth and time spent at despatch removing it. Granular feed products that will provide a few months’ nutrition include Floranid Permanent or Osmocote Top Dress NT. Check outdoor crop nutrient levels – wet weather will inevitably have washed some of them through.
4Leaf crinkle Cold nights and warm days can cause leaf distortion especially on evergreen crops with large leaves and deciduous plants starting to produce foliage under protection. It is cosmetic but in some cases can render plants temporarily unsaleable. Some customers may query whether it is a pest or disease. Make sure temperatures are kept fairly even from day to night by using Cosytex, fleece and by venting.
4Plane anthracnose Brown patches develop underneath leaf buds from overwintering spores on fallen leaves. New bud growth can be killed off and infections are often worse in cool, wet springs. Apply a preventative spray of Bravo 500 (EAMU 2011-1130) or Dithane 945 (EAMUs required) now.
4Root death Check root condition before despatching early crops. Root death may not show up until the plants become more active in the spring. Look at a random selection of plants in a batch.
…for the garden centre
Regular checks by trained staff of your retail plants for pests and diseases will prevent sudden, sometimes uncontrollable, outbreaks. First check plants near bed edges, doors and under vents. A hand lens will help to confirm the presence of spider mites. Call the Nursery Stock Advice Line for prices of a range of hand lenses.
Time to promote Control rust mites Use Plant Rescue Fruit and Vegetable spray on fruit trees. Leaf spot control Use Fungus Clear Ultra (triticonazole), Fungus Fighter (myclobutanil) or Plant Rescue Fungus Killer (difenoconazole). Seed sowing It’s time to sow outdoor seeds. Sell customers a soil thermometer – temperatures need to be 13°C consistently.
Pass it on l Lawn mowings that have had weedkillers applied to
them should not be used as a mulch. Sell customers a compost bin or encourage them to put trimmings into their garden recycling bin.
l Cross-pollination of peaches, apricots and nectarines in cold conservatories needs to be carried out now. The still air in these structures inhibits good natural pollination.
l Customers can help reduce the risk of box blight if they use clean, sharp pruning equipment. They can avoid spreading the disease if they wipe all cutting surfaces with surgical spirit. Prune plants in dry conditions and sweep up and burn any fallen leaves and trimmings.
purples, pinks or white; and it’s a good food plant for bees. Once established, it’s also a tough, drought-tolerant plant. Happiest in full sun in a well-drained soil, lavenders hate cold and damp – root rot is a common problem. On heavy clay or loam, add plenty of organic matter and gravel to the planting hole, then mound up the soil and plant the lavender on top. If you want to grow a lavender hedge, space plants 30cm apart (45cm for larger cultivars). Lavender grows well in containers filled with multi-purpose or loam-based compost such as John Innes No. 3. Add coarse grit to improve drainage and some controlled-release fertiliser granules. Water regularly in summer and sparingly in winter. After flowering, use secateurs to tidy up old flower stalks
L
(save the dried flowers for lavender bags). In late summer, trim back plants to 2.5cm of the current year’s growth. Don’t cut into old wood, it won’t regrow. Replace old woody specimens.
Companion plants
Roses, summer-flowering bulbs and herbaceous perennials, such as echinacea, helianthus, phlox, monarda and rudbeckia.
Recommended Lavandula angustifolia‘Hidcote’ AGM – English lavender, fragrant, deep violet flowers July to September, good for hedging, fully hardy, H&S60-75cm L. angustifolia ‘Munstead’ – English lavender, fragrant, blue- purple flowers July to September, fully hardy, H45cm S60cm L. angustifolia ‘Loddon Pink’ AGM – compact English lavender, fragrant, pink flowers in summer, fully hardy, H&S50cm L. stoechas subsp. stoechasAGM – French lavender, very fragrant rounded flower spikes with distinctive mauve ‘rabbit’s ears’ in spring/summer, borderline hardy, H&S60cm
_Plant of the Month POS materials are available from HTA partners Hortipak and Floramedia. For details please
visit
www.the-hta.org.uk/plantofthemonth2013 HTA news I March 2013 I
www.the-hta.org.uk 21 Lavender
3 3 3
Colour and fragrance Drought tolerant Bee friendly
avender is a great value garden plant: year round you can enjoy its aromatic, silver-grey foliage; in summer it produces an abundance of scented flowers in blues,
Seasonal promotion Plant of the month April
Introducing the season’s best and most widely available plants to your customers
Use plant protection products safely. Always read the label and product information before use. HTA/Dove Associates shall, in no event, be liable for the loss of or damage to any crops or biological control agents caused by the use of products mentioned
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