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et ready for seed-sowing. Make sure you have good-quality soil-based or soilless seed compost. Before you buy, check bags are fresh, avoiding leftovers from last year. Clean pots, trays and modules before sowing.
If you didn’t plant garlic in autumn, you can still plant suitable cultivars such as 'Solent Wight’ at the end of the month.
Prune back stems of autumn raspberries close to ground level. For a smaller but earlier crop, cut about one third of the stems in half. Select the strongest shoots and prune just below the point where they fruited. Remove those stems after harvest.
Check apricots, peaches (pictured) and nectarines under cover as they may start flowering. Hand pollinate using a soft brush.
Cold and humidity can encourage fuzzy grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) on leaves, stems or flower buds of plants overwintering under glass. Remove any dead or dying foliage. Water and improve ventilation to reduce humidity.
Prune shoots of overwintering fuchsias to one or two buds.
If you can maintain the temperature at about 10C (50F), pot up dahlia tubers and start bringing them into growth.
In milder areas, start pruning hybrid tea and floribunda roses; in colder areas the pruning is best delayed until March.
Finish off cutting back perennial and deciduous ornamental grasses, getting the beds ready for mulching.
Remove some of the older leaves and damaged or diseased foliage of hellebores when the flower buds start to emerge.
Prune shrubs grown for winter stem colour, such as Cornus alba, Cornus sanguinea and Salix alba. Prune back all stems to two buds (two pairs of buds for Cornus) of the previous season’s growth.
Renovate deciduous hedges such as beech and hornbeam. If healthy, they will tolerate reduction by up to about 50 per cent in height and width, but such drastic pruning is best spread over two seasons.
WARM THE SOIL FOR EARLY SOWING
To start sowing outdoors early, consider pre-warming a patch of soil. When the ground is not too wet, first cultivate the soil, incorporating organic matter and fertiliser if needed. Cover the soil with clear plastic film or cloches. It is also possible to use black polythene, but ensure a good contact with the soil. Fleece is less effective. To keep the sheet in place, tuck it into the soil, or weigh the edges down with bricks.
Leave in place for six weeks until you are ready to sow. After sowing, cover the soil with cloches or fleece to protect the germinating seeds and young plants from the worst weather.
Clay soils are slower to warm up as they hold a large amount of water. Unless water is lost to evaporation, pre-warming will not be very effective. It is preferable to use cloches on clay.
Crops to try
Early carrots ('Adelaide’, 'Yukon’)
Bolt-resistant beetroot ('Boltardy’)
Broad bean ('Masterpiece Green Longpod ’ 'Witkiem Manita’)
Kohl rabi ('Kolibri’)
Lettuce ('Little Gem’, 'Merveille de Quatre Saisons’)
Parsnip ('Gladiator’, ’Archer’)
Peas ('Feltham First’, 'Douce Provence’)
Radish ('Sparkler’)
Salad onions ('White Lisbon’, 'Purpette’)
Shallot ('Long Red Florence’)
Turnips ('Atlantic’, 'Milan Purple Top’)
PLANT OF THE MONTH
Narcissus 'February Gold'
This is a vigorous daffodil for early spring colour. The single flowers are golden yellow and 7.5cm (3in) wide, and the perianth segments (outer petals) are slightly reflexed (curved back). The flowers reach about 30cm (12in) tall.
Bulbs are best planted in the autumn in moist but well-drained soil and in full sun or light shade. Wear gloves when handling daffodil bulbs as the sap can cause skin irritation. Make sure that the soil is moist when in full growth and let the foliage die down naturally.
If necessary, lift, divide and replant once the foliage starts to die down after flowering.
Source of Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
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