Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to. Show all posts

Sunday 1 December 2019

Gardening advice.

If you haven't got anything growing in a plot over winter then put a light covering of leaves over the top and then cover with either cardboard or weed fabric.

When spring comes the worms will have taken a lot of the leaves down into the soil and it will be weed free.

Friday 11 November 2016

Six steps that will help you grow your own vegetable patch.

Six steps that will help you grow your own vegetable patch | Daily Mail Online
Anyone, anywhere can do it — no garden is too small.
A window box or pot is ideal for herbs that transform dishes and a patch of ground a metre square will provide salad leaves all year.
I have seen spritely 90-year-olds digging on allotments and three-year-olds helping to plant rows of beans.

- Follow the sun to pick your plot.
Vegetables all grow best in good soil that is free-draining with direct sun for at least half the day - preferably longer.

- Getting warm!
A greenhouse is best, but cold frames are very good and a porch or spare windowsill is perfectly workable.
When they have germinated and are reasonable sized seedlings, put them outside to harden off before planting them out at 22cm (9in) spacing when the soil is warm and they are big enough to withstand any kind of slug or snail attack.

- Mulch to do.
The best soil is rich in humus or organic matter that comes from the roots of plants and the addition of decaying plant material such as compost or manure.

If you can’t dig, a mulch on the surface will do the job and work into the soil, albeit more slowly.
Root crops such as carrots and parsnips grow best in soil that is very free draining and hasn’t had fresh organic material added in the past year. That’s because it can cause roots to fork and split and encourage lush foliage at the expense of the roots.
So it’s a common practice to heavily enrich one third of the plot for potatoes, legumes and salad crops, and to top up another third with a mulch of good compost, which is good for brassicas such as cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli plus alliums such as onions, leeks and garlic.
The third section is left unenriched and used for root crops, such as carrots. This last one becomes the first next year — so is heavily enriched; last year’s first gets a top-up; and the one that was second (brassicas and alliums) is left alone to grow carrots and roots. And so it goes on. In practice, there is usually much more mixing and matching than that and crops are squeezed in among each other. It doesn’t have to be slavishly obeyed, but it is a good guiding principal.

- Easy-reach beds.
Don’t make the beds too wide: 1m (3ft) to 1.5m (5ft) is the maximum workable width, and it is best to keep them to less than 4.5m (15ft) long so they remain quick and easy to walk around.
Mark the beds out with string and dig the ground deeply, adding as much manure or compost as you can obtain. This will raise the surface of the soil. Use bark chippings, paving or grass for the paths.

- Slugs and snails.
The healthiest plants are those that respond best to the situation that they grow in — whatever and wherever it might be. Encourage predators to get rid of pests for you. Thrushes, frogs, toads, beetles, centipedes, shrews and hedgehogs all love eating slugs and snails.
It means avoiding toxic chemicals — ie slug pellets — and a degree of tolerance for collateral damage.

- Sow little & often.
Succession is the key and gives a steady supply of fresh vegetables for as long as possible.
It means sowing two or three batches of your favourite vegetables across the season, so when one batch nears the end, another is ready to be harvested with perhaps a third being sown or grown on.
Start with some fast-growing salad leaves raised indoors in plugs that can be planted out as soon as the ground warms, and follow it with regular additions, raised in plugs and directly sown, until September.
Crops such as peas and beans, chard, carrots and beetroot grow more slowly but can be spread over months to provide two or three overlapping waves of harvest.
Finally there are long, slow crops such as most brassicas, chicory, garlic or celery that will tie up space for most of the growing year.
I always inter-plant these with a fast-growing catch-crop such as radishes or rocket that is ready to eat before it competes with the slow-grower.

Saturday 11 June 2016

How to make the most of your garden art.

Monique Gudgeon on how to make the most of your garden art - Gardens - Dorset
"Whether it’s a piece of brutalist post-modernism, a classical carved stone figure or an elegant bronze sculpture by my husband Simon Gudgeon, the decisions and processes of finding the perfect place for your piece of outdoor sculpture are the same.
When it comes to art in the garden size does not matter.
Whether it’s a four or five-metre piece or something more modest in a smaller situation the same rules will apply.

When we moved to Pallington Lakes six years ago and opened as a sculpture park, Simon and I had visited numerous art venues around the country.
We knew what we liked and we had a clear idea about how we were going to display his work.

Taking your time and planning are the two most important elements.
You know your garden and where you like to sit; what bits can be seen from the house and which views are the best.
Take all of these into account and then try and visualise that sculpture in those favourite spots.
Rather than lugging a heavy statue or sculpture around, get a bamboo stake approximately the same height as the piece.
Take this to the various sites you are considering; stick it in the ground and then walk away so you can look at it from different vantage points.

You’ll be able to see whether it’s going to be tall enough to stand on its own or whether it needs some kind of plinth or pedestal.
Make sure it’s in proportion to what surrounds it, trees or buildings for example.
Also, has it got enough space around it so that your view is not obscured, or does it look cramped?

Lastly, consider what backdrop would suit your new art investment.
Sculpture easily gets lost amongst a welter of flowers, colour, leaf shapes, differing heights and depths.
Instead use flowers as part of the frame, keeping the backdrop simple and maintaining the sculpture’s impact.

Remember that there are two elements to your sculpture: the wider context, or vista - how it is seen from a distance, and the closer encounter - the more intimate view when you are beside it.
Both of these have to work.

My Golden Rules

-Keep planting simple, chose one variety of plant if possible.

-If the piece is going to be in the middle of a bed, make the planting low enough so that it doesn’t obscure the piece, or put the piece on a pedestal.

-If the sculpture is against a hedge or similar, ensure it comes above the top of the piece, like a curtain behind. Avoid the line of a hedge cutting through the middle of a piece.

-Choose a plant that will look good all year round – evergreens are best.

-If you go deciduous, dead head if needed and keep it tidy.

-Be aware of the conditions of the site you chose such as exposure to wind, or frost and consider how this will impact on the plant you choose.

-Put in some subtle lighting if you can, particularly if the piece is going to be seen from the house.

-Look after your art! Ask the artist what the piece might need in terms of after care. Dust off the cobwebs, wash off the bird poo and make it feel loved.

Creating the Right Frame

I try to frame all Simon’s work in some way so that the piece is defined but your eye is not distracted, so choosing the right planting plan is crucial.
From the following examples, you’ll see it doesn’t all have to be uniform.
Texture is just as important as colour.

Water and Sculpture

Water and sculpture are perfect partners.
Not only does it impart wonderful reflections, whether a perfect mirror on a calm day or dazzling dancing patterns when the wind blows, sunlight also bounces off the water and lights the art in a completely different way.
It’s always on the move, changing hourly, even minute by minute.

Grasses, Trees & Other Plants

Grasses are ideal for planting around the feet of a piece of art.
Remember to choose the right height for the piece or put it on a plinth so that it can stand above the grasses when they are in full growth.
Again there are hundreds of varieties to choose from, some evergreen and some not.
The deciduous varieties can be left in place over winter as they look superb when all frosted, then cut them back in February.

My personal favourite is Pennisetum ‘Red Head’ – a deciduous grass with the most beautiful burgundy hued flower heads in summer that last well into winter.

To form continuous carpets around a sculpture choose a low growing plant such as Thrift or Sea Pink.
This variety (left) is called Armeria maritime ‘Rubifolia’ but again, there are so many different varieties available now.

Small growing, evergreen geranium varieties, which are hardy, offer an excellent foil to frame a piece of art.
Some also have good autumn colour but all have beautifully coloured flowers.
This one in particular (right) is Geranium subcaulescens ‘Splendens’.

Not only does woven willow provide a good green backdrop in summer but an interesting, uniform pattern in winter - uniformity is the key here (far right).
A woven willow arbour or hedge can be as big or as little as you want so ideal for small or large gardens.
This tunnel uses Salix viminalis, its high maintenance and needs to be kept in order.

Silver birch (Betula pendula) have great bark colour and are relatively cheap to buy when small if you are planting a lot of them to surround a piece.
They also support the second highest number of wildlife species of any UK native tree, the common oak being number one.

Framing Sculpture - Monique’s favourite plants:

New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax): This plant can’t be beaten for drama and durability. Though relatively easy on maintenance, be warned they can take up a lot of space.

Bamboo: There are many varieties of bamboo - from the well-mannered clump forming varieties to the rampaging spreaders. Avoid the latter or your sculpture might disappear in a jungle! My favourite is Narihira bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa) – it’s a particularly upright variety, spreads very slowly and grows nice and tall with good, chunky canes to give vertical texture as well as greenery.

Yew (Taxus baccata): The classic and best for hedges, yew’s dark green colour makes it the perfect foil to any work of art. Any conifer that is happy to be kept clipped will do just as good a job, however, avoid fast growing varieties like Leyland cypress.

Beech (Fagus sylvatica): I love a beech hedge for its ability to change with the seasons; fresh and green in the spring and, because it hangs onto its dead leaves, a rich chestnut brown in winter. Try copper beech as an alternative, its dark purple colour contrasts beautifully with bronze sculpture.

Boxleaf Honeysuckle (Lonicera nitida): An evergreen relative of the hedgerow climber, it just loves being clipped and trained into all sorts of interesting shapes (see above). It’s a fast grower so you’ll get good results quickly, but there will be a lot of ongoing maintenance.

Common Box (Buxus sempervirens): Another classic but also a slow grower, so patience is required. Also, concerns about the fungal disease which causes Box Blight has meant it is not nearly as popular as it was, but it’s still a lovely and versatile thing.

Cotton Lavender (Santolina chamaecyparisus): This lavender has a generally rounded habit which I take advantage of by keeping it clipped back hard so it forms little rounded hillocks.
It is excellent for creating a low border around a sculpture in an open situation or around paving.
However by keeping it clipped you do lose the flowers but sometimes sacrifices have to be made in the name of art.

Visiting Sculpture by the Lakes:

To arrange a visit to Sculpture by the Lakes, at Pallington, near Dorchester go to sculpturebythelakes.co.uk and follow the links to Plan Your Visit and Bookings. For further information call on 07720 637808 or you can email us at sbtl@me.com

Our recently published book about Sculpture by the Lakes describes the process of creating the sculpture park, and a lot of my thinking behind the planting and design of the garden and grounds.
It also explains the inspiration that led to Simon’s most iconic sculptures and how we marry art and the garden successfully.
Buy it online via Amazon at £35 (plus £2.80 postage and packing).
Alternatively, visitors to Sculpture by the Lakes can buy a copy direct from us for £25.

Sunday 29 May 2016

From plot to plate.

From plot to plate: chefs' kitchen garden secrets | Life and style | The Guardian
Kitchen garden secrets:
Hazel tipis: Train indeterminate tomatoes up hazel tipis, growing four plants against each tipi.
Simon allows the first side shoot of each plant to grow, tying it against the main shoot.
This way he gets eight productive shoots from four plants.
Sun and shade: Shade can often inhibit flowering in some plants, but it does not stop them trying to develop leaves.
So plant fruiting crops in the sun and place salad leaves in the shadier parts of your plot.
Sowing deadline: Winter crops such as cavolo nero should be started in early summer.
Sowing any later than midsummer is pointless as plants do not have time to reach a worthwhile size before the chills of autumn curtail their growth.
Big cavolo nero plants in autumn will provide plenty of big healthy leaves for ribollita in winter.
Three crops from the same plant: Sow autumn broad beans in late summer, so you can then harvest the tips of already sturdy plants for a warm, mid-autumn day's salad.
The chefs at the River Cafe also serve the growing tips of broad beans in early summer, followed by the beans.

Vertical courgettes: If you are short of space in your garden sow climbing courgettes.
The Black Forest variety will reach 1.75m.
Vertically grown courgettes are much easier to pick than those on bushy plants, so you will not end up overlooking some of the fruits.
Double duty: A good example of companion planting is placing nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) next to your brassicas.
Not only does this look colourful but the nasturtiums also attract cabbage white butterflies, and hopefully they will lay their eggs on the flowers and not on your precious cabbages.
Confine roots: Grow chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines in 25cm/10in pots rather than in open ground, as a restricted root space will encourage plants to produce a heavier and healthier crop.
Baby leeks: A nice summer alternative to spring onions.
Sow as normal but do not thin out.

Choosing a variety:
Look out for nurseries' specialist vegetable days around the country – they often provide tastings of different varieties.
Tomatoes: Raymond's favourite tomatoes are Roma, Marmande, Costoluto Fiorentino, Coeur de Boeuf and San Marzano.
Anne-Marie gives them as much space as possible as this helps develop a healthy bushy plant as opposed to a leggy specimen.
She supports plants with canes and pinches out the growing tip of each plant when it reaches 1.75m tall.
To aid pollination, she taps the plants when in flower.
Two is company: Dill is planted next to brassicas and left to flower and attract hoverflies.
Geraniums (Pelargonium) also attract beneficial insects.
Successional sowing: Sow spinach and radish every 10 days or so from mid‑spring to midsummer.
Replace summer radishes with the winter variety from then onwards.

Perfect soil: To grow plants successfully you must look after your soil.
For most plants in the veg patch, aim towards the holy grail of a free-draining, moisture-retentive soil of pH 6.5–7.0.
Water sparingly: Water only when absolutely necessary.
If needed, water very heavily but infrequently.
Grow hard: Plants given little extra water or nutrition are able to withstand pests and diseases better than soft pampered ones.
Make the soil and the plants do the work.
Take stock: View the garden, plants, soil and the animals within it as an interconnected ecosystem.
Learn the life cycles of your plants, about beneficial insects and pests, and discover how to grow well in an environmentally responsible way.

Play safe: Use seed compost for container sowing – potting or multipurpose compost is too rich in nutrients, and makes the seedlings develop too fast.
Water first: Always water your seed trays and modules before sowing, allowing the water to soak through and completely moisten the compost.
Start small: Plant just a few herbs that you are going to use in the kitchen.
This way you will be able to maintain them and harvest them regularly.
Cut back: Trim thyme, sage, lavender, mint, oregano, hyssop and savoury after flowering to encourage the plants to put on new growth for late season pickings.
It also helps to protect the plants from heavy rain, gales and snow.

Sunday 17 January 2016

Some useful around web.

These are a few of my favourite things | Out of my shed

- It’s great to see varied growing techniques in different gardens and I found these Hinnomaki Red Gooseberries, trained as cordons, very inspiring.
A lot easier to harvest than from a bush, these upright fruits would be wonderful to grow in tight urban spaces and I’ve already ordered a few to experiment with in my own garden.
- Cordons are a single main stem, tied onto parallel wires stretched between posts, and trained vertically. This is a good method of cultivation for the small plot.
Plant single, vertical cordons 30cm (12in) apart.
Stretch two wires – one at 50cm (20in) and one at 1.3m (41⁄2ft) – between two posts and tie vertical canes to the wire where each gooseberry is going to be planted.
In late winter, feed with a thin mulch of well rotted manure. Avoid feeding the plants with too much nitrogen because this can encourage sappy growth, which is prone to gooseberry mildew.
Pruning:
On planting, prune back the tip by a quarter, cutting to just above a bud. Remove all sideshoots that are 15cm (6in) from the ground or below, plus any suckers. Cut back all young side shoots to one or two buds.
Year two onwards: cordons
1. From early June to mid-July, cut all young side shoots to five leaves and tie the growing tip to the cane as it extends.
2. In late autumn or winter, after leaf fall, prune back the same side shoots to one or two buds. Cut back the tip by one-third.
3. Once the cordon reaches 1.7m (5½ft) in height (the top of the supports), cut back the tip to five leaves from last year’s growth in the summer, and then back to one-three buds from last year’s growth in winter.
An average yield of 3-5 kg can be expected from a bush; 1-1.5 kg from a cordon.
How to Grow Gooseberry Bushes
Ribes uva-crispa 'Hinnomaki Red' | Right Plants 4 Me


- Another edible success was growing potatoes on top of grass. Following my visit to Charles Dowding’s ‘no dig’ farm, I experimented with a few Charlotte potatoes in April, planting directly on top of fresh grass and covering with about 6 inches of recycled municipal compost.

- The no prune (well almost) method of tree training! | Out of my shed

Saturday 16 May 2015

Tomatoes. By James Wong.

Tomatoes - James Wong | Official Site:
"Unbelievably, spraying a dilute solution of aspirin onto your tomato plants (we are talking half a soluble tablet per litre of water) is capable of causing their sugar content to soar one and a half times and boost their Vitamin C content 50%.

This treatment can even make your plants more resistant to cold, drought and (not that we'll ever need it in the UK) heat stress too. According to one trial this can even result in a 47% less incidence of late blight, the scourge of tomato growers,
This works as aspirin is a close chemical copy of the plant stress hormone, salicylic acid, which turns on the genes that regulate their defence systems.

The more stress a plant 'thinks' it is under, the more sugars are redirected to the developing fruit in a bid to make them irresistable to passing animals. Plants do this to ensure their seeds have the maximum chance of being dispersed to save the next generation, but it conveniently makes for tastier salad too."
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- Невероятно, опрыскивание раствором аспирина растений томата - помидора (растворить половину таблетки на литр воды) способно повысить содержание сахара в них в полтора раза и повысить содержание витамина С на 50%!

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Saturday 17 January 2015

The growing pains of Otter Farm.

The growing pains of Otter Farm | Life and style | The Guardian:
How to grow remarkable fruit and vegetables
1. Choosing what to grow. Drawing up your wishlist is the key step – it sets the parameters for what success can be. If the sun shines when it should and it rains when you're at work, you may well get exactly what you asked for, so only ask for jacket potatoes, onions and cabbages if that's what you dream about eating. Ignore plant groups, forget about any limitations your garden may have and think imaginatively. Let flavour be your guide.

2. Grow what you most like to eat. Make a list of all the food you love. Add to it anything you love the sound of. You'll be surprised at what you can find a way of growing: pears on dwarf rootstocks; peaches, apricots and nectarines growing on the same tree; strawberries growing vertically.

Friday 26 September 2014

How to grow ericaceous plants.

How to grow ericaceous plants » Ashwood Nurseries:
Ericaceous plants include Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias, Heathers, Pieris, Blueberry, Cassiope, Eucryphia, Enkianthus, Fothergilla, Gaultheria, Leucothoe, Nyassa, Kalmia, Pseudowintera, Styrax and Vaccinum.
Ericaceous plants require acidic to neutral soils (pH7 or lower) and generally will not thrive in more alkaline conditions (i.e. high in lime, pH7.5 or higher). They are mostly plants of woodland, heath or mountain-side so require moist but well drained soils that are rich in organic matter.
Position
Most ericaceous plants prefer the dappled shade and shelter of other trees and shrubs and are also useful subjects for a sheltered North facing border. They are tolerant of more sunny exposures as long as the soil remains moist. Smaller leaved rhododendrons, most azaleas as well as blueberries and heathers prefer a slightly sunnier position, perhaps shaded from the sun when it is at its strongest in the early afternoon. Rhododendron yakushimanum and its cultivars are very tolerant of cooler, more exposed positions.
Our ericaceous plants are generally completely hardy, tolerating temperatures down to -15 ° F (-25 °C). Those plants marked slightly tender should be given a very sheltered position. Some care is needed in the siting of early flowering subjects to avoid their blooms becoming marked by late spring frosts and for these it is best to avoid an east-facing site. Likewise, plants that produce spring foliage colour (e.g. pieris) are probably better placed in a southerly or westerly aspect, sheltered from sun and cold winds by surrounding evergreen shrubs.
Planting
All ericaceous plants are surface rooting with very fine roots so extra care is needed when planting. Plants grown in containers can be planted out at any time of year; provided that the ground is not frozen.
Prepare an area 5-6 times larger than the pot size: work organic matter (such as leaf mould, peat or good quality ericaceous compost) into this area to form a nice friable mixture. Mushroom compost and manure are not suitable because of their lime content, nor should fertiliser be applied at this stage.
Water the plant in its pot thoroughly, leaving to soak for a few minutes. The correct planting depth is very important as ericaceous plants will not thrive if planted too deeply: plant to the same depth as the compost in the container, barely covering this with the lightest layer of soil.
Place the plant in its planting hole and then firm in lightly with the fists. If necessary, particularly with a larger plant, drive in a stout stake away from the root ball and tie the plant to it.
Finally, water the plant by giving it a thorough soaking at the roots. A light sprinkling of water is a waste of time, has no benefit to the plant and in fact can be detrimental to the roots
Aftercare
Continue to water during the first growing season and subsequently during very dry weather otherwise the fine roots will suffer. All weeds are best removed by hand whilst still young as hoeing and forking too close to the plants may damage the roots.
An annual mulch of peat, leaf-mould, pine needles or composted bark is beneficial. Spread this material in a 1-2 inch (2.5-5cm) band 6 inches (15cm) from the base of the plant. Never mulch too close to the stem of the plant as this may cause the bark to rot. Avoid using fertilisers other than a very light application of blood, fish and bone in May only.
After flowering, the larger flowers of rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias can be dead headed by carefully breaking out the truss of seed heads before the leaf buds start into growth, but take great care not to damage these new buds.
How to grow Ericaceous Plants on Alkaline Soil
If your soil is alkaline, we would suggest planting into large containers or purpose-built raised beds.
Containers should have a drainage hole, filled with good quality ericaceous compost and their position in the garden chosen carefully to take into account their cultural requirements. You must be prepared to be diligent with watering.
Raised beds should be raised at least 6 inches (15cm) above surrounding soil to prevent any alkaline water flowing into them. The walls can be built of most materials although we would discourage the use of limestone or concrete blocks. Some materials that harmonise particularly well with this form of plantings include old railway sleepers or half round timber edging. The beds should be filled with an ericaceous mix either  a  good ericaceous potting compost, or a mixture or two parts acid loam (shredded Mendip Loam being ideal) six parts peat of leaf-mould and one part sharp flint or quartz grit (not limestone chippings) of between ¼ and 1/8 inch. (3-6mm)

Pests and Diseases
Ericaceous plants are rarely troubled by pests and diseases except for aphids (green fly) which distort the young growths: these should be controlled either with a systemic insecticide or regular treatments with a proprietary soap treatment. Mildew, if it occurs, is best controlled using a systemic fungicide.
Sometimes, the roots and underground stems may be nibbled by vine weevil grubs. The adult weevils leave irregular-shaped notches in the leaf margins during the summer while the white legless grubs are likely to be found among the roots which they eat, causing the plants to wilt in severe cases. “Provado Vine Weevil Killer” is an effective control for plants in containers.

More! Make an Ericaceous Soil Bed for Acid-Loving Fruits:


Espoma's "Soil Acidifier."
It contains sulfur, derived from elemental sulfur and gypsum.
You can find this organic goodness at any respectable garden center. Application is a breeze: First, grab a measuring cup...
And fill it with the acidifying granules.
Then pour the granules in a circle around the drip line of each shrub.
The drip line is the outermost edge from which water would naturally drip from the plant.
Feeder roots are concentrated there.
Rates. For young shrubs, use about 1 1/4 cups acidifier. For larger shrubs, use 2 1/2 cups.
Repeat the procedure every 60 days or so, or until you achieve the correct pH for your blueberries -- 4.6 to 5.5. Watering-in.

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Thursday 5 September 2013

Monday 22 July 2013

Огородные подсказки.

После томатов и картофеля хорошо растут капуста, огурцы, кабачки, тыква, бобы, горох, чеснок, свекла, салат, морковь, петрушка, сельдерей, укроп.

На месте огурцов, кабачков, патиссонов можно выращивать редис, капусту, свеклу, лук, чеснок, горох, бобы, помидоры, картофель.

Морковь, укроп, петрушку, сельдерей должны сменить лук, чеснок, бобы, горох, картофель, томаты.

После бобов и гороха можно сажать все культуры.

После лука и чеснока также можно высаживать все, кроме самих этих культур.
Отсюда!