A bit of seasonal guidance

July - and another month starts:

Yes I know it’s been said before, but crikey! where is the time going? This year is just flying by. Though largely due to being particularly active I suspect.

Now I’ve got time to reflect on the past 4 months I’m seeing a few classic or common gardening ‘mistakes’ if you like. So if you are thinking about making some plant purchases in the future here are some things to think about.

In no particular order:

• Many plants; more likely the shrub varieties – typically the forsythia, kerria, roses, deutzia, weigela, hardy fuchsia, winter flowering jasmine, etc suffer from incorrect pruning techniques. The typical result being lots of whippy top/side growth and little flowering wood lower down; also, lots of dead material deep within the core of the plants. So, if you are thinking about buying a shrub in the future, make sure you have plenty of room for it to grow, and you learn how to prune it correctly – you’ll definitely be rewarded for your efforts.
• A common mistake I see quite often is planting shrubs too close to bordering fences/walls and other established plants. Plants need space all round them to grow, mature and to get the best results. Also, planting away from a fence or wall will enable easier maintenance in the future (for both plant and fence).
• Leaving weeds or self-sown plants to establish. I’m seeing instances of self sown holly, elder, sycamore, hawthorn and others, that if caught early enough when very young, plants should easily be removed (pulling out or small amount of digging). Some specimens I’ve had to deal with have been substantial saplings and take a disproportionate amount of effort to remove. In some cases, the ‘sapling’ had been cut to ground level by some well meaning individual, only for the sapling to grow back twice as vigorously! So, my advice is keep your eyes peeled and pull out any invader in your garden before it is established.
• Plants in wrong places; similar in many ways to putting plants too close to fences, but examples also include not considering eventual height or spread of shrubs or trees. The typical result is large shade areas where other plants cannot thrive, or light deprivation impacting on house windows and access to driveways / pathways. Also, plants with potential invasive natures such as Ivy need careful thought before planting. I’ve seen various damage done to old Cotswold stone houses (crumbling stone/bricks), garden walls that are bulging or have collapsed due to expanding roots/stems.

The 'experiment' continues successfully. The tomatoes appear to be gaining benefit from the screening and don't appear to be suffering from any reduction in light levels created by the screen.

We have enjoyed some lovely strawberries. I grew 4 varieties and the best/sweetest is Sonata.

I've noted that some 2nd early potatoes are looking really sick - not sure whether I've imported some bad 'manure' left at the allotments. Last year in the gardening press it was widely reported that weed killer used on grazing land had traversed horses/cows and had appeared in stable manure; this weed killer had survived and was present in the resultant manure. Consequently if used on gardens it had devastating effects. Advice at the time seemed to be to compost reasonably new manure for at least a year to allow the weedkiller potency to diminish. Not sure whether I've got this - but I'm going to leave the area uncultivated for the rest of the season once I've removed the potatoes. There's always something...