Expand your horizons ....up?
Summer, sunshine and strawberries, June is a truly wonderful month! In this time of plentiful growth we take a look at making the most of your waste clippings by turning them into lovely rich compost to use next year, and also how to make the most of every inch of your space.
Every year it amazes me how the plants respond so dramatically to the arrival of the warm weather.
Anything sown or planted
out in May seems to positively leap out of the ground and shoot skywards, in many cases quickly catching up with earlier sowings!
Of course the lawn is no exception and if you don’t already have a composting system in place then why not set one up now and make use of some of those endless grass clippings? Ideally you want to have two (or even three) compost bins so that when one is ready to use for the garden you have another fi lling up and rotting down. You can buy allsorts of nifty looking, ready made, compost bins - some even have clever devices that make it easy to turn the whole bin to help the waste break down - but you don’t need anything fancy.
You can just start a compost heap in an out of the way corner, enclosing it with old pallets, or wire mesh wrapped around four stakes if you want to keep it looking a little neater. So what should you compost? Well any dead organic matter will decompose naturally but you should aim for a good mix of ‘green’ and ‘brown’ ingredients.
Lawn trimmings, veg leaves and peelings provide the green 70 To advertise in thewire t. 07720 429 613 e.
the.wire@btinternet.com
element and you should add a reasonable balance of brown items such as shredded paper, straw, eggshells and even the contents of your vacuum cleaner bag. Turning the heap occasionally will accelerate the breakdown and covering with an old carpet when it is full will also help. Leave for several months and you should have some great compost!
June is also the time of year when it is easy to start to run out of space on your plot. Everything puts on amazing growth spurts and you are suddenly left wondering where you are going to plant out those tomatoes that you’ve been nurturing in the greenhouse, or fi nding you’ve no room for the cabbages that you’d like to be eating later in the year.
Time to expand your horizons and make full use of containers and of your borders. Look at the diff erent varieties of lettuce and salad crops - many of these, along with cabbages, can add a splash of decorative, coloured foliage to your borders (and be eaten too!!!). Grow bags are wonderful for crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
They’ll be happy in a sunny spot on your patio but do remember to water and feed regularly. Larger pots can house courgettes and pumpkins, with the exotic looking fl owers adding a bright splash of colour. Even hanging baskets can get in on the grow your own act! Look for suitable strawberries or tomatoes and you could be treated to a bumper crop of luscious fruit tumbling down from above.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100