Amateur Gardening 12-Feb-2022

“Gardening is a never-ending journey: there are always new things to discover, different varieties to grow and new techniques to master. Every year I aim to improve my skillset, so having successfully replanted two climbing roses last year, I am going to propagate another two by hardwood cuttings, as Ruth details on page 7. I’m very excited at the idea of creating new roses. On the veg side, regular readers may recall that I’m a keen potato grower – but this year after the potato harvest in July, I plan to fill the space with carrots for the first time. Who knows how it will pan out? But remember, gardeners – have the courage to fail on your journey, for through failure comes learning.”…

JUST as breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, so the first feed of the year is the one that sets our plants up for the year ahead. Cold This should be the first ‘meal’ of the year as there is no point in feeding plants in winter. Most are dormant so don’t take up food, and if they do show signs of growth during milder spells, the energy provided by fertilisers will cause them to throw out new shoots which can be damaged or killed should later cold snaps descend. But now that growth is resuming, over the next few weeks the best thing you can do for the year ahead is provide plants with the means for strong, healthy, prolific growth. Horticultural companies spend millions researching…

1 Treesand shrubs: Established trees and shrubs rarely need feeding, but a potassium-rich feed, or even some wood ash, will help fruit trees and young trees, boosting blossom and fruits. 2 Perennials: As perennials shoot and reappear from under the soil, fork a slow-release feed around their roots and water it in. 3 Containers: Container plants quickly deplete nutrient levels so nurture with a specialised container fertiliser such as Osmocote, which can feed for an entire season. 4 Houseplants: Most are now coming back into growth so feed with liquid houseplant fertiliser every few weeks through the growing season.…

BUYING plant feeds can be daunting as every year manufacturers bring out new formulations or simply rebrand what they’ve already got. The faster a plant is growing, the more feed it will need, and this is why liquid feeds are so popular in summer when plants are flowering and fruiting. Liquid fertilisers, added to water, are make it easy for the plants to take up the nutrients they need. However, they are also more easily washed away in rain and their goodness can be gobbled up relatively quickly, which is why we use slow-release and controlled-release pellets or granular feeds as a more meaty back-up. Foliar feeds are also useful for plants once they are in growth. They give an instant boost via the leaves and are useful for countering certain nutrient deficiencies,…

COMFREY is the Marmite of the plant world – you either love it or hate it. While it is a very attractive plant and great for attracting insects into your garden, it is also incredibly invasive and once in, is hard to remove. Its roots are sturdy and go deep, making it a stubborn invader, but these subterranean questers also make it ideal for making homemade fertilisers. The roots take up lots of minerals including valuable nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and trace elements, which are then transported around the plant. This makes them a rich source of nutrients when the leaves are rotted down in buckets of water. The same goes for nettles, which also have extensive root systems. To make comfrey and nettle fertiliser, or ‘tea’, strip the leaves from the plants remembering to wear gloves…

▪ Summer crops grown in growbags, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and squashes, are super-feeders and will use up the goodness contained in growbags in five or six weeks. ▪ To get the best results, feed and water them regularly. ▪ When it comes to feeding, ‘little and often’ is better than a big feed once a fortnight. ▪ A weekly feed with a liquid, high-potassium fertiliser such as Tomorite or Big Tom will encourage good flowering and fruiting. ▪ Don’t let the compost dehydrate as this will inhibit the plants’ take-up of feed.…