Pennells Garden Centres

June has the promise of hot summer days, and a time to enjoy the garden, with the first spring crops coming to fruition and summer bedding plants coming into flower.
 
There’s still plenty to do of course with fruit, vegetables, containers and baskets needing regular feeding and watering. At this time of year rain soon evaporates as the ground is relatively warm so it’s essential to ensure that your crops are well watered.  In the vegetable garden you need to continue sowing vegetables to ensure a season long supply.
 
The lawn too will require mowing and feeding too if we have rain. However if the weather is very dry stop mowing and do not feed at all. It will lose its colour, but will soon green up again once it rains again.
 
Here are some tips on what to do in the garden this month:
 
    •    Earth up potatoes to ensure a bumper crop.
    •    Liquid feed container and greenhouse crops try Nutri Fruit & Veg Feed.
    •    Continue to sow salads, runner beans, peas, lettuces.
    •    Now’s the time to sow winter Flowering Pansies, Wallflowers and Sweet William in trays of John Innes Seed Sowing Compost.
    •    Lift and divide overgrown bulbs like daffodils.
    •    Feed clumps of spring flowering bulbs with a liquid feed such as Nutri Plant Feed to help them prepare for next years show.
    •    Plant out summer bedding plants once all risk of frost has passed.
    •    Plant up containers using a Multi-Purpose Compost.
    •    Plant up hanging baskets, mixing in Water Saving Gel and slow release fertilisers with compost.
    •    Keep slugs and snails at bay, especially around Hosta try Slug Attack or Slug Buster.
    •    When you have cut the lawn apply the Liquid Aftercut Lawn Feed and Conditioner to the lawn as a tonic.
    •    Make a check on the condition of the lawn, in particular for weeds and moss that may have invaded the lawn

This time of year is ideal for planting one of our most colourful flowering plants the Fuchsia. It can be used either in indoor as a houseplant or outdoor in the border, in baskets and in containers. They come in a range of shapes, sizes and flower colours.
 
The first fuchsia to be discovered was Fuchsia triphylla on the island of Hispaniola, which we know today as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was found by a French monk who named it after the German botanist Leonart Fuchs. There are currently 110 known species which are mainly native of South America, with a few from Central America and also from New Zealand where they occur naturally in the interior of forests or in damp and shady mountainous situations.
 
From the species there are now many thousand hybrids which range in hardiness and use. Here are some suggestions of varieties suitable for use in the gardens of Lincolnshire.

Hardy Fuchsias 
These varieties will normally survive most winters, but they may well suffer in extremely cold weather. They are ideal for planting in shrub borders and will give colour through the summer right through until the autumn.
 
F Beacon                              Dark Pink and mauve flowers
F Display                              Central tube of the flower is a deep pink with rose pink outer
F Dollar Princess              Double flowers with cerise crimson outer and purple centr
F Tom Thumb                    Red and mauve flowers, compact growth. RHS Award of Garden Merit
F Hanna                                Red outer and white centre

Trailing and Bush Varieties

These varieties are ideal for use when planting up tubs, container and hanging baskets. Use the trailing varieties in baskets so they hang down over the basket, while the bush varieties go well in planted containers and tubs.
 Some suggested varieties include:

F Annabel                           Pink and white double flowers. Trailing to semi bush variety
F La Campanella               White and pink semi double flowers. Trailing
F Marinka                            Bright red flowers.  Trailing
F Swingtime                       Red and White flowers. Trailing
F Carmel Blue                    White outer and purple centre. Bush
F Mieke Meursing           White and pink flowers. Bush

 How to Get the Best from Your Fuchsia
Dead heading fuchsias regularly will provide continuous flowering rather than flushes of flower.

All Fuchsias but especially those grown in tubs and baskets will respond well to a high nitrogen feed initially and then a feed of high potash when in flower. Do ask in you local garden centre for advice on what feed to give. In the garden fuchsias do best in a sheltered shaded position with a fertile, moist but well drained soil.

 Things to be Doing In the Garden In May and June

·         When planting bedding or shrubs make sure you water  the plants well before planting
·         Lawns will be growing quickly now and will require regular cutting
·         Set up your own compost bin. Grass mowing’s, mixed with vegetable peelings will produce a rich compost which will add nutrient to your garden. Don’t just give it free to the council!
·         Treat weeds in lawns with a selective week killer such as Verdone Extra Ready to Use
·         Plant up patio containers – put a feature plant in the centre such as a cordyline and surround it with bedding plants of your choice, such as Impatiens or Petunias. There are now several specialist composts such as Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost which is less likely to dry out in the summer.
·         Sweet corn, runner beans, French beans, squash, courgettes and outdoor cucumbers are best sown in pots and kept under glass till the end of month when the danger of frost has passed. They can then be planted out in the garden.
·         The seeds of hardier vegetables can be sown directly into shallow drills out in the garden include carrots, lettuce, broccoli, spinach, radish and peas.
·         Earth up potatoes in May to protect the tender shoots from frost.
·         Check roses for signs of aphid and ask at your local garden centre for the best method of treatment.

Gardening in January and February does rather depend on what the weather is doing. Hopefully after all the cold and snowy weather we had before Christmas it will be a mild start to the year.

If the ground isn't frozen outside then it's a good time to start your winter digging on the vegetable patch, taking care to remove any perennial weeds such as couch grass you may find. Before you start to dig spread a layer of compost such as farmyard over the surface. As you dig the area the manure will get worked into the soil enhancing its nutrition.

Indoors prepare seed potato for planting later in the spring. Place the seed potato's in old egg cartons with the rose end (where you can see tiny buds) upwards. The trays should be kept in a cool but light place for four to six weeks prior to planting. This will encourage the buds to start to grow but they should remain short and dark green. If they turn white and become elongated they aren't  getting enough light. 

Other things to do:

• Prune Apple and Pear trees
• Keep an eye out for weeds in the vegetable garden
• Start to sow seeds under frost protection such as a greenhouse.
• Check that the snow and frost hasn't loosened newly planted shrubs.
• Prune back overgrown shrubs
• Plant summer flowering bulbs
• Plan for the spring
• Winter pruning of Wisteria - for more advice see below

Plants to add colour to you garden in January and February:

• Dogwoods
• Gaultheria
• Snowdrops (these can be divided soon after flowering)
• Helleborus varieties
• Hardy Cyclamens

 Don’t forget to protect soft fruit such currants and gooseberries from bird damage. Cover the plants with Gardman Garden Netting.

 Watch out for aphids (greenfly and blackfly) on roses, delphiniums, lupins, foxgloves and pansies. They can multiply with phenomenal speed, so a weekly check throughout the garden  is a good idea.  For decorative flowers use the BugClear Ultra Gun! – it’s systemic, so gets inside the plant’s sap stream to make it almost insect proof for several weeks. For edibles including herbs, vegetables and fruit use BugClear Gun! for Fruit & Veg.

 Plant up hanging baskets, patio pots with tender flowers such as fuchsias, geraniums, pelargoniums, busy lizzies, petunias and all manner of trailing plants such as begonia, lobelia, erigeron, helichrysum and verbena. For magnificent results plant in Britain’s best container compost-Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. This unique Aquacoir formula stores and releases water when the plants need it.

 In May the grass is growing at its maximum rate, it will soon use up any energy reserves in the soil. The problem if this happens is that the grass will lose its vigour and turn pale and unloved in the process. If you have sorted out the moss and weeds earlier in spring and mow the grass regularly, all you will need to bring your lawn back to optimum condition is a balanced lawn food. EverGreen Mow it Less will give you a  green healthy lawn in just 3 days. Trials prove this special nutrient-rich formula feeds right down to the roots promoting slow, natural growth which means up to 50% less mowing than other lawn care products tested. Apply anytime for less mowing and more time for you.

 Plant out brassicas with a felt pad around each stem. These circular mats placed on the soil will help to prevent the cabbage root fly from laying their eggs beside the plant stems. Some that are impregnated with copper will also deter slugs from getting onto the plants.

 To avoid getting carrot fly this year follow these tips
·         Sow fly resistant varieties such as Flyaway or Resistafly
·         Sow seed thinly to eliminate the need to thin
·         Cover the seed bed with garden fleece

 Nows the time to be earthing up your potatoes . When the plants have reached 20-30cm (8-12inches) tall then you need to draw the soil up and around them by scooping it out between the rows and using this soil to almost cover them over. This encourages potatoes to form higher up and ensures that light does not reach the developing tubers and turn them green. Ideally they should be ‘earthed up’ again in about 3 weeks.