Gardiner’s Diary By Craig Gardiner, Gardiner’s World
Now’s the time that we can finally look forward to summer with the worst of the cold behind us. It’s not unheard of for early May to experience morning frosts, though, so keep an eye on the forecast and be sure to protect any vulnerable plants and new shoots overnight should the threat arise. Spring rain will warm up the ground after March and April’s freezing conditions, meaning it’s the perfect time to sow outdoor vegetables. Don’t forget to earth up around potato plant shoots as they emerge, encouraging better underground growth and hopefully more potatoes as a result. Any veg started off indoors can also now be planted out. For the best chance of survival, any plant grown indoors should be hardened off in a greenhouse or cold frame before taking up full time residence in beds and borders. For the first week, move the plants to the outdoor structure and over the next 10-14 days gradually open the lid/door for increasing periods of times, remembering to close overnight to begin with, to break them to outside temperatures. Warmer rain will kick-start summer lawn growth and it’s likely that from now on you’ll
need to mow on a weekly basis. For a neater finish, use an edging tool to re-define borders and pathways; with little effort you can make a huge difference. And of course it’s not only the desirables that will now be waking after winter; now’s the time to get to hoe out weeds from beds before they take hold, followed up by a thorough raking to remove debris and thin out clods of earth, making it much easier to plant summer bulbs such as agapanthus and dahlia.
Further pests will come in the form of slugs and snails, which will now be out in full force. I’ve
Above: Edging up beds gives a neat finish.
Left: Clear out, hoe and rake beds ready for summer planting.
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heard of many methods of deterrent, most of which don’t do much for the appearance of your garden, but in my opinion there really is nothing easier and less offensive to the eye than plain ol’ wildlife-friendly slug pellets.
Later in the month, when the last of the frosts have definitely passed, you can get creative with hanging baskets and patio tubs. For beautiful blooms throughout summer I recommend busy lizzie, lobelia, fuchsia and begonia. Remember also to protect fruit bearing plants and trees with netting - as much as we love visits from birds we don’t want this to be to the detriment of our fruit harvest!
So there’s much to keep us busy this time of year and I for one will be hoping for seasonal spring weather to make our job easier and give our gardens the best start possible.
ARDINER’S WORL GREAT GARDENS NEEDN’T COST THE EARTH!
All garden maintenance undertaken
CALL CRAIG GARDINER ON:07871 855778 FOR A FREE NO OBLIGATION QUOTE
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