This month is where chasing weeds becomes a full time job - Hoeing and hand pulling weeds is still the best option while weeds are new and small in planted areas especially if you are clearing a garden to plant out for a summer show. Couch grass and convolvulus need to be taken right out if you can, get each long runner under the ground and any little pieces that may have been chopped with the spade, they will grow and spread very fast if left. I spot spray Couch and convolvulus with round up in badly effected areas, trying hard not to bring the spray in contact with plants. Once all obvious weeds are gone cover the area with compost, thick enough to keep the light from allowing any weed seeds left behind to germinate. Compost if cooked well will have been heated to the point of destroying weed seeds. NOW plant,plant, plant! as many annuals and perennials as you can into the prepared area, they will grow really fast from now on and beat the weeds. If you have not feed plants, roses or shrubs do it now, powered plant food should always be watered in, if you have home made compost ready to use add blood & bone; and some sulphate of pot ash this will to add food and a flowering / fruiting component. Watering and liquid feeding for new plantings is the key to success as they settle in and make new feeding roots, first thing in the morning is the best time to water giving plants and dirt time to dry off before night. Fungus thrives in damp ground on mild nights.
Mulch really comes into play now, the areas mulched here in my garden with pea straw are holding the moisture around trees and shrubs. Pea straw looks ok in shrubberies but I don't use it in ornamental gardens where I plant annuals.
I often mention using old stable manure along with compost around roses, spread around the drip line to keep them going over their long flowering period, watering / rain will take it to the roots as required. Once rose leaves have hardened off a little green fly can be dealt to.
Organic green fly spray on roses: I picked a bunch of new seasons rhubarb this week, cooked the sicks and from the leaves made an insect deterrent spray as follows.
3 or 4 rhubarb leaves roughly chopped, into 4 cups of boiling water, simmer for 20 mins then allow to cool. Strain, pressing rhubarb leaves in the strainer to get full leaf infusion.
Spray: mix 1 teaspoon detergent or (baby shampoo if you have) to 2 1/2 cups of cold water, then blend this soapy water to the leaf infusion in a spray bottle. Spray onto roses and any other ornamental plants that succumb to green fly. Store left over leaf infusion by freezing, each application works best when fresh. Unfortunately it is not to be used on eatable plants, I use a garlic concoction on veg, which I will list next week.
Most lovely Camellias are still flowering but once finished they can be trimmed and shaped, take out branches from the middle if a bush is dense and bushy. This lets the light in to help form next years buds,there should be enough gaps for a bird to fly through.
Hostas are starting to leaf now, so watch when working around them in the garden, it will not take much to knock the point off the new leaves, keep well watered and give them a dressing of compost and blood & bone, plus I will be trying different organic concoctions on hostas as well this year because Scruff the dog will soon sniff out, and down slug bait!! Slugs come in their droves if they get a sniff of hostas, they slide down into the center of clumps to lay eggs and the young then feast. Because the clumps are just beginning I will concentrate the concoction on where the eggs will be and will place sharp barriers around the outside edge of clumps that slimy slugs will need to cross and will try Diatomaceous earth, known organic slug repellent.
Slugs and other garden pests
Apply as a barrier around plants and garden beds. Reapply after rain. Any diatomaceous earth that washes into soil will continue to benefit your garden, since it acts like vermiculite in retaining water for future slow release. To insects DE is a lethal dust with microscopic razor sharp edges. These sharp edges cut through the insect's protective covering drying it out and killing them when they are either dusted with DE or if it applied as a wettable powder spray. If they ingest the DE it will shred their insides. Breathing in of Diatomaceous earth is not good for us so wear a mask, once settled on the plant or ground it is not harmful. ( While researching this I found that Talcom powder contains diatomaceous earth), could dust down in the center of hosta's with talc?? will let you know how my experiments pan out.
Lillies are pushing up, put in stakes to support them to before they get higher and never let them dry out, same for peony roses they do so much better growing up through holding stakes.
I have been noticing a few ornamental cherry blossom trees with root stock branches being left to grow, all flowering cherry trees are grafted onto a strong root stock of a very ordinary white blossom tree. Cut rogue branches off while still small, If allowed to develop they will take over the whole tree. If you do have a tree with lovely pink or white blossom and you notice some blossom looks different then most likely it will be a branch growing from below the graft.
Lawns are really going for it now which means the ground has warmed enough to sow grass seed, sow thickly to beat weeds and birds, keep moist and you should have a strike in no time. Don't fertilise newly struck grass, all fertilisers will be too strong. I have roughed the ground up a little and sown seed in the bare patches left by moss removal and grass grubs then covered seed lightly with sifted soil.
Vegetables:
Plant shops are full of veg and herb plants, seeds, tomatoes plants and seed potatoes, from now on it is so easy to grow your own food. If you do not have an existing vegetable garden but you do have a patch of vacant ground, clear it, dig it or rotary hoe it, edge it with what ever you have on hand , lime stone blocks, tree branches or sleepers. Spray the weeds around the outside of your edging so they will not encroach on your planting space then go for it, get planting at this time of the year everything will grow fast and well as long as you keep the water up and hoe the weeds away. Compost will be needed only on ground that had large tree's or hedges growing near by. Once worked up, vacant soil should be rich enough to plant straight into.
Corn and pumpkins need to be planted now to assure the long ripening season they need. Carrot seed planted now should mature before the carrot fly is on the wing again to lay the second generation of eggs. If carrot fly has been a real problem for you in the past I would cover rows with insect net once germinated from October until April which includes the three generational life cycle of the carrot fly. I have been told Resistafly F1 hybrid Egmont seeds are less likely to be infested. The fly is attracted to the carrot smell while flying low to lay her eggs so thinning out of carrots is almost like calling the flies. Plant seed with a little river sand keep sowing's thin.
If it's a Herb garden you are keen to make and have chosen a sunny spot, dig in some old stable manure and lime before planting, all herbs like both. Why not plant up some mixed herb pots now and they will be ready to give as Christmas presents.
Cheers, Linda
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