The
Dartmouth Gardener
Let the sky fall W
GARDENING
By Alex Webster
ith winter on the wane, the first signs of spring are showing on the plot. The first of the hardy
weeds are beginning to germinate as are the self sown poppy seedlings, the progeny of some I sowed three years ago. These are all signs that the soil is beginning to warm up. Though cold weather can easily return, to see the first signs of spring is encouraging. The rhubarb on the plot will grow strongly in march
offering tender shoots for pies and crumbles. Often vilified as a waste of space in the garden. rhubarb can offer attractive structure and form as well as any of its ornamental cousins. When the late John cushnie of BBc Gardeners’ Question Time was asked what he puts on his rhubarb, he first asked the lady what she used; she replied a good dressing of farm dung. “Oh,” replied John, “I prefer custard.”
The rhubarb crowns on my plot are “Timperley early”. seven crowns in all, divided from two large cast-offs
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Tasks for March Fruit
• Last chance to plant bare-root fruit trees, and ideally plant container-grown ones too. • Plant cold-stored strawberry runners. • sow seeds of alpine strawberries. • Plant cranberries and loganberries. • apply mulch around fruit trees, nuts, and bushes as long as the ground isn’t frozen. • Re-pot or top dress container-grown fruit if needed. Vegetables • Try to avoid digging in wet weather, but if gardening on wet soil, work from a plank of wood, to avoid treading on the bed and compacting the soil.
• cultivate and prepare seedbeds, covering them with clear polythene or fleece to warm up the soil before
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from an old friend in the village. These two crowns were sliced up with a sharp spade; as long as each remaining section has one or two buds, it will happily create a new plant. planted below the compost heap and sheltered from the north wind by its pallet frame, it thrives unless we get a severe south westerly gale in april when the giant leaves are shredded. The whole crown will them die back but re-grow to produce prize winning sticks 4-5cm across. The leaves of the rhubarb plant are poisonous, but
the Victorian gardener used them to good effect by soaking them in water and using the resulting liquid as a pesticide.
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