Carrive Grove

Garden Centre

Contents:


Advice Corner


A selection of Gardening Articles written by Sean O'Hare published in the


Hedges for flowers and fragrance.

Now is the perfect time of the year to plant new hedges. What could be better than one which attracts wildlife, has flowers or has a scented perfume? Choosing what type of hedge to grow will depend on what size of garden you have? It will also depend on what you want from the hedge? Do you want it as a boundary, dividing the garden in to smaller areas, or for screening a particular area?

If you want to attract wildlife into your garden then a flowering hedge will be the perfect lure. E.g. Escalliona. No matter how small in size you hedge will be it will, creates nesting sites for birds, homes for insects, and small mammals.

If you plant a mixed hedge with a couple of different plant species, the plants berries hips and seeds created will keep the mammals and birds living in your hedge full over the winter months. Mixed hedges are of particular value to wildlife because they bring several seasons of wildlife into the garden. An example of this would be combining Hawthorn with summer flowering pink Escalliona, with winter berried Holly. Other species of plant such as Rosa rugosa, Whichazel, Guelder rose can be added for even more variety.

Hawthorn, Rosa Rugosa (dog rose), Hazel etc can be planted bare-rooted up until the end of March. These plants are dormant at this time of the year and are planted quite easily and at a fraction of the cost you would normally buy them at. If you happen to have a parcel of land and have a farm number there are also grants available from DARD to assist you, this also applies to planting trees etc. Anyone interested in planting native hedging plants can contact their local DARD office or contact me directly.

If you would like a hedge with berries on it then Berberis darwinii is a good candidate. It is an evergreen plant which bears orange flowers in the summer, followed by blue-black berries in the winter. It has the added advantage of having thorny leaves, thus making it a good hedge for security in your garden. It can grow up to three metres in height if allowed but smaller sized examples grow a lot better.

Photinia Red Robin is another plant which is usually used as shrub and will also make an attractive hedge. It has dark green/red glossy leaves which turn a lush red colour during the summer and late autumn.

There are plenty of other examples to choose what particular hedge you would like in your garden. Whatever kind of hedge you are looking for, wherever you want to put it there is a flowering and scented variety that will be right for you.

Recycle Fallen Leaves.

Now that autumn has finally arrived it seems that every city street and country garden is pilled high with fallen leaves. Usually most people will gather them up and put them into your green waste bin. Instead of doing this why not gather them up and compost them and use in your garden too feed your plants in the spring when they will welcome a feed.

Before you start collecting leaves from your garden it is worth bearing in mind that not all the leaves from trees can be rotted down into compost. Most deciduous trees such as, Beech, Oak, Birch, and Sycamore produce leaves which can be composted down. Other trees such as Chestnut and Walnut will need to have their leaves shredded down before they are ready for composting.

The easiest way to compost leaves is to gather up a few sacs filled with leaves and heap them into a corner of the garden. They will rot down naturally over the winter months. If you find you have a large surplus of leaves to compost down one of the best ways to compost them is to put them in a compost bin.

A compost bin can be bought from your local garden Centre or hardware shop there are plenty to choose from. Alternatively you can make your compost bin quite easily using old wooden pallets. The open spaces on the pallets are ideal to allow air into the leaves which will be part of the composting process. It is also a good idea to make a small hole in one pallet at the bottom to allow easy access to your newly rotted compost when it is ready. If you find that your plant and tree knowledge isn't too good then there are plenty of books and websites out there to help you too identify tree leaves. Alternatively bring some sample leaves on to your local Garden Centre to identify them for you.

Recycling fallen leaves from trees into compost is one of the purist forms of recycling so why not give it a go it isn't hard to do.

Plant Onions and Shallots.

It is a good time now to plant your shallots and Onion sets. This a fairly simple job to do once you have all the ground work done. They of course are planted as bulbs and can be purchased in any good grocer, garden centre etc.

You will need to decide where in your garden you are going to plant your bulbs. You could simply build a raised bed or dig over a small area of the garden. Both of these sites will need to be well drained for your bulbs to grow successfully. If you are planting straight into the ground the soil will need to be dug over well. This will mean you will have to put a bit more work in but it will give you better results. By removing large stones and clods this will help the young plants to grow quicker and stronger.

Once you have your planting area prepared you can begin planting. Plant shallots in straight rows and space them out at 9inches or the width of your hand. Adding some compost to the soil before planting would be an advantage and give your bulbs a good start. Planting them further apart will allow them to grow bigger so it's up to you what spacing you choose? Your shallots just need to be pushed in to the soil with their heads just above the level of the ground. If you have to use a trowel then you soil hasn't been worked enough.

What you are planting now will be ready to harvest in June/July of next year. Shallots tend to be a favourite with are feathered friend birds, they tend to poke a lot of the out of the ground which isn't ideal! To stop this from happening you can put a layer of garden fleece over your plot after planting. The fleece will allow enough light and moisture in to get the bulbs going. Once your bulbs have germinated the fleece can be removed.

Why not give this a go, you get great satisfaction out of what you see growing in the garden!

Plant Bulbs in Pots.

Garden bulbs look great in pots when you get the planting combination right. They will also look good for ages with very little effort. One planting idea for pots could be to mix early flowering crocus with late hyacinths and late flowering tulips.

This planting combination will give you blooms from February to April of next year, all these bulbs can also be planted into pots in layers. The compost I would use for planting would be John Innes mixed 1/2 with multipurpose compost or bulb fibre. You can also use multipurpose compost on its own it will still give good results.

Garden bulbs do not grow well in pots if they are waterlogged or sitting in water, this will cause them to rot and you will have wasted all your money. To avoid this from happening you can add some broken crocks to the bottom of your pot, this will act as drainage, and once your drainage has been sorted you can begin planting.

The first bulbs you can plant will be your tulips they can be positioned in a rough circle around the pot; this will give you a better display when they come into flower.

Cover the tulips with compost once they are planted, add Hyacinth bulbs next these can be planted in a rough triangle formation. You may want to wear gloves when planting hyacinths, some people can have an allergic skin reaction to them.

Your planting can be finished by adding a layer of crocus they can be spread evenly around the pot. Top the rest of the pot up with compost and finish of the top with a layer of grit this will help drainage.

There are of course lots of other planting combinations you can experiment with. If you read the back of the bulb packet before planting you will then no what depth to plant then in your pot. Planting miniature narcissi could be an option and they look quite effective when planted in clumps. Finally a good tip is to add a label to your pot and write the varieties the pot contains as you will often forget what you have planted.

Autumn Raspberries.

There is nothing like the taste of home grown raspberries whether they are eaten as fruits or turned into Raspberry Jam. Most summer and early raspberries are finished fruiting now, but you can continue the fruiting process with autumn varieties such as Raspberry Autumn Bliss. There are several advantages to growing autumn varieties compared to earlier types. The first one is that the plants fruit forms on the current season's growth which will also mean that you won't need to cut all the canes to the ground during the winter. When you are doing this it would be a good idea to add a layer of rotten manure to help moisture and plant nutrients in the ground.

You should also bear in mind when planting autumn raspberries to keep them separate from summer or earlier varieties. This is important as when it comes to pruning as, unless you have labelled every plant you will not be able to tell the difference between summer or autumn plants. Raspberry plants tend to produce lots of shoots near the base of the plant, which can lead to different species becoming mixed up. Raspberry Autumn bliss will not need staking which will save you a lot of labour and expense of stakes and wire. It has a longer fruiting season (up to two months) compared to summer types.

Because this variety fruits later in the season it is less likely to be prone to pests and diseases and shouldn't come under the radar as much for are feathered friends the birds. If you find you are loosing a lot of raspberries due to the birds gorging them then it would be good idea to install a fruit cage or some fruit netting to keep the birds at bay.

Autumn fruiting varieties such as Autumn Bliss tend to have a superior flavour but I suppose this a matter of opinion. Proof is in the eating why not try and grow some, then you will be able to judge for yourself. There are of course other varieties of Raspberry available from your local Nursery or Garden Centre they can be planted as potted plants or in a few weeks bare-rooted.

Bedding Plants.

All gardeners like to use bedding plants because of their instant and beautiful colour. They are also excellent at closing spaces between plants and shrubs that are not yet fully grown, for growing in pots or planting up a whole bed for immediate effect. They also grow rapidly and provide great value for money. It is wonderful to see what our local council have done on a larger scale with bedding plants in open spaces in the town centre and approaches. As I have mentioned bedding plants can add an immediate splash of colour to any garden, and they can be planted in containers, hanging baskets, pots, or in mixes borders. Bedding plants are usually temporary so your bedding plant displays can be changed every year.

Most people now buy their bedding plants in pots or trays, ready to plant out. Best buys are the individual modules, or cellular trays where the plants have developed their own root systems, which makes them healthier and less prone to damage at planting time. When planting in containers use a good multipurpose compost or compost and John Innes mixture, and ensure the drainage holes a clear at the base by adding some broken pots or larger stones.

Once the new plants are potted they should grow quickly. Keep feeding them once weekly with liquid fertiliser, such as 'miracle grow'. Later, regular dead heading also encourages the plants to produce more flowers and improves the appearance.

A visit to your local garden centre this month will impress you with the range of colour and variety of bedding plants available, and some of the old favourites are popular because they are so reliable. Ideal plants to choose are Geraniums, Fushia, Lobelia, Marigolds, Begonias, Bizzie Lizzies, Nasturtiums and as I have said, there is no quicker way to transform your garden in the summer than to plant out good summer bedding.

You may have also been enjoying the sunshine the last few days, and your plants will have been doing the same. Don't neglect watering them especially if the weather continues to be warm. Watering should be carried out early in the morning in the evening.

Tend Your Tomatoes.

At this time of the year when salads are so popular there is nothing more rewarding for a gardener than to have home grown tomatoes. Heavy crops of fresh tomatoes in summer depend on care and cultivation now.

Most varieties of tomato are indeterminate. This means they will grow upright to an undetermined height - until you stop them. They also produce side shoots - one at the base of each leaf. The side shoots should be removed or they'll grow to create a straggling plant that's difficult to control with loads of small tomatoes that stand little chance of ripening. The mass of foliage also makes a great home for huge numbers of the pest whitefly. Tomato plants need support and if they're growing in pots or border soil, canes are the simplest way to hold them upright. Tie them to the canes regularly as they get very heavy when carrying a crop.

Watering and regular feeding will encourage a good crop and prevent some problems. Plants in grow bags are particularly prone to drying out and this can cause problems like poor set and blossom end rot (black, sunken patches at the ends of the fruit). It's not unusual for the flowers on the first truss to set poorly. This can be due to low temperatures and to encourage pollination by tapping plants gently. Once the first truss has set you should start feeding the plants with a tomato fertiliser. Follow the manufacturer's directions and feed the plants once weekly.

At this time of the season you are likely to have greenhouse whitefly. It will help to put yellow sticky traps up just above the tops of plants. Whenever you go into the greenhouse, brush the plants to disturb the pests so that they fly up and get stuck on the traps. Don't put the traps at the top of the greenhouse where they will catch beneficial bees and hoverflies. Adult whiteflies are like tiny white moths, but when immature they're like pale 'scales' which suck the sap of plants. The insects secrete honeydew which will become infected with sooty mould and weaken the plant. Early vigilance and control is the most effective way to deal with this pest.

Hanging Baskets.

Planted hanging baskets will look great throughout the summer. They're perfect for restricted spaces, balconies or a 'dead' wall that you can fix something to. But they are not things that you can plant and forget - you will need to devote some time and effort to watering and dead-heading to maintain their looks. Both annuals and perennials can be used to plant hanging baskets, and you will need selection of plants including a feature or central plant, and a mixture of other plants that includes scrambling or trailing plants.

You will need a coated wire basket of around 12 inch, chains for hanging and a hook to hang after planting in its final position outside. Use a plant pot to set the basket on while planting. If you can obtain moss line the bottom of the basket with an inch or so, if not use a liner from a garden centre. Now take your trailing plants out of their pots and gently guide their roots through the sides of the basket, resting on top of the compost layer. Use enough plants to do this around the whole basket, add handfuls of compost and firm in. Work your way up the sides of the basket adding layers of compost and trailing plants and staggering their positions to give the basket a good covering.

Firm the compost around the plants. Position your central plants on the top of the compost, removing excess compost to make planting holes. Firm the compost around all the plants when you have finished making a slight dip in the centre of the basket for better watering. Water your hanging basket very thoroughly and you can keep it in a greenhouse or bright frost free place for about four weeks until all risk of frosts has passed. You will need to water your basket regularly, daily if possible, whether inside or outside.

Moss in Lawns.

The next few weeks is the time to take action if you want a good quality lawn this summer. Grass growth begins as soon as the ground temperature exceeds 6 C, which should occur this month. Begin mowing before there is much growth so as to remove grass that has grown in winter mild spells. The mild wet weather has seen moss growing at a rapid rate this year. Often gardeners attempt to kill moss without tackling the problem that actually causes it. If you really want to eradicate moss in you lawn, then you must find out the actual problem that is causing it, rather than just treating the symptoms.

The most common causes of moss growth are, compacted or waterlogged soil, over acidity of the soil, and very commonly mowing the grass too closely and weakening grass growth.

Moss can rarely compete with strong growing grass in lawns. Get the grass growing properly and your lawn will not suffer from moss problems. Assuming you have, or have inherited, a lawn with moss problems, you should carry out a maintenance regime rather than simply treating the moss that is there. Unless you tackle the underlying problems the moss will return.

1. In spring, apply ferrous sulphate based moss killer to the whole affected area.
2. Two weeks later, rake out all the dead moss
3. Reseed the bare areas.
4. In early summer apply a lawn fertiliser to get the grass growing again.
5. Mow the lawn properly, regularly, throughout the summer. NOT TOO SHORT.
6. In Autumn give the lawn a good raking or mechanical scarification and aerate.
7. Carry out a soil testing summer to assess the soil acidity. Acid soil encourages moss. If it needs adjusting, apply lime in the Autumn.

If by the Autumn your lawn is growing well, then most if not all of the moss in your lawn will have been controlled or even eradicated.
If there is still some moss in your lawn, you may need to repeat the treatment in the following Spring.

Garden Compost.

With a sniff of good weather in the air you might be thinking of getting out into the garden soon. Why not try and produce your own garden compost if you read on you will find it isn't that hard to do!

Garden compost can be used for various jobs around the garden. It can be used as garden mulch for shrub beds, or fertiliser for your shrubs and trees in the garden. For those of you who like to be organic the producing your own compost would be the way to go.

You will be glad to hear that you don't need to spend a lot of money to produce your own compost. If you have the right principles of making compost correct then whatever method you use, you will end up with the same result.

Heat, Oxygen and moisture are needed to make successful compost. To construct your own compost bin you can simply use old wooden pallets. The inside of your bin should be lined with plastic to keep heat in and stop rain cooling down the breakdown process.

Some advertisers often mislead the public on how long it takes for compost to mature. In reality it takes six months in the summer and slightly longer in the summer. Most organic waste from your house can be recycled, this includes potato peelings, vegetables and old newspapers.

In the summer if you have a lawn you will have large quantities of grass clippings to dispose of. Grass clippings will make good compost if combined with other organic waste. If this is not done you will end up with a slimy mess!

To increase the breakdown of your waste you can also add soil, this will contain helpful bacteria and worms to help the breakdown process. Aerating your compost will also help it breakdown quicker.

As you are aware are local council has been providing us with special bins to recycle our green waste. By recycling your garden waste through your compost bin you will be cutting down on what is dumped in landfill sites. If we all do a little we could make a difference to the environment!

Chaenomeles.

Chaenomeles or Quince is a very old plant that has stood the test of time its name means 'early flowering' which makes it a good plant to have in the garden.

This plant has been popular since Victorian times for its early flowering and ornamental fruits and is a good candidate for cottage and country gardens. The plant will do very well in both sun and shade and is tolerant of most conditions. Chanomeles makes a great plant for training along a wall, especially if the wall isn't very high. It could also be used as a specimen shrub or as hedging and give you an early blast of colour from February onwards. The main flush of blooms will appear on the plant during the months of March and April giving you a longer flowering period than most plants. The flowers that appear on bare stems before leaves appear make good food for bees.

When the plant is trained against a wall it can be pruned the same way as Apple trees to encourage it to produce a heavier crop of flowers and fruit. In other situations it should be pruned after flowering to encourage new growth and flowers the following year.

The fruits of Chanomeles are edible but have a bitter sour taste and are best used in jam making. The fruits of the plant will develop slowly after flowering, during the summer. They will turn green at first then yellow and sometimes turn and orange/red colour.

Like most plants there are many varieties to choose from but you will generally only find one or two main varieties in your local Garden Centre. Good candidates to choose are Chanomeles x superba 'crimson and gold' and Chanomeles speciosa, these are old varieties which have been popular for along time.

Chanomeles x superba 'crimson and gold' is popular for its masses of scarlet coloured blooms, which are followed by strongly scented fruit. The plant grows to 1m in height by 2m and is idea for training along a wall. Chanomeles speciosa grows up to 5m in height and produces showy red flowers on its stems.

Grow the Best Berries.

There is nothing better than the taste of home grown fruit from your garden. So with this in mind I'm going to talk about a relatively new range of plants called Hybrid Berries. These are fruiting plants that have been cross pollinated with each other, i.e. plants such as raspberry, blackberry etc. Hybrid berries are of similar size and makeup to their parents, but there flavour is quite different. All hybrid berries like to grow in rich fertile soils that don't dry out in the summer. They will also thrive in cooler gardens and grow well on a north facing wall.

When planting prepare your soil as you would for planting raspberries, i.e. digging the soil deeply and forking in plenty of rotted garden compost or manure. If you have bought bare-root plants it is a good idea to soak the plants in water before planting.

Your plants will also need to be staked after planting, this is very straight forward to do. If you have the space hammer two fence posts into the ground roughly two metres apart. Then attach wire to these posts making sure that it is taught and supported.

You have now got your framework for training and supporting your plants. This is important because it separates the plants new growth from old growth. You ideally want your berries growing on the plants new growth because they will fruit better.

Your plants old growth will be a darker brown colour, these old stems should be cut out at the base of the plant. This pruning should be carried out in the autumn when the plants are dormant. After pruning mulch your plants with rotted garden manure, if you have a compost heap then use the compost from it.

Hybrid berries should be available from any good Garden Centre, or alternatively they can be ordered from mail order catalogues. Take note that if you are buying from catalogues the quality can be poor at times. You will also find that the plants are dry and will be bare-rooted as they are dormant his time of the year. If the plants are dry on arrival soak them in water for a few hours before planting.

Mahonia Heaven.

This unfussy plant is a very decorative year-round shrub offering winter colour and structure to any garden when there is not much else on offer. It bears flowers on long racemens which are often fragrant, flowers are often followed by berried fruits which often last onto the following growing season.

Mahonia is a shade tolerant plant and its dense growth is useful for tackling shady corners. It can also be used for woodland under planting and north facing spaces, while its spiky foliage make the plant an effective security screen.

Plants will survive on any well-drained soil, if your soil is of good quality it will aid establishment of the plant even more.

There many good examples of this plant in Garden Centres the most popular varieities being Mahonia aquifolium, Mahonia x media 'charity' and Mahonia x media 'winter sun'.

Mahonia aquifolium is widely used as a ground cover plant or even for a low growing hedge. It bears its trademark bright yellow flowers in spring followed by blue or purple berries. The plants green foliage turns a bronze or purple in the winter and grows to a height of 1.5m high by 2m wide. Mahonia x media 'charity' grows into a strong architectural shrub and is popular for its sweetly scented flowers which appear from October. It grows to an overall height of 2m.

Mahonia x media 'winter sun' is a popular variety and carries elegant deep green leaves which bear srinking large racemes of yellow flowers in mid-winter. These are followed by small ornamental purple berries.

As this plant is a vigourous grower care should be taken not to let the plant get too leggey or out grow its location. Pruning can be carried out after flowering and a third of the plants growth can be removed at a time. If the plant is pruned every spring it will encourage more even growth to emerge. Most varieties of Mahonia are generally pest and disease free and will grow nearly anywhere in the garden.


Reduce your carbon footprint.

We all accept that we are in a period of climate change, and while some experts say that this is part of a natural cycle, there is no doubt that carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by man are speeding the change at an alarming rate.

In Ireland the average "carbon footprint" i.e. the amount of CO2 emissions per person, per year is 10.4 tons, while the worldwide average is about 4 tons. We need to reduce the world average to 2 tons per person to combat climate change and we are urged to reduce energy consumption in our homes, cars, travel etc., which is all very depressing. However we can make a major contribution to carbon emissions in a much less painful and in a very fulfilling way by planting trees.

A tree "breaths in" about one ton of co2 in its lifetime. We need to reduce our "carbon footprint" by about 7 tons per year, so if plant seven trees a year this is one way of achieving this.

Trees also replenish sustainable habitats for wildlife and they enhance our natural landscape. Ireland has gone from being a thickly forested a few hundred years ago to one of the least forested regions of Europe, so we have plenty of room for new trees. By planting trees we not only improve the local environment but also help in the fight against climate change.

Your local garden centre can advise you of the most suitable trees for your garden. In the smaller suburban garden carefully chosen trees will give colour and shelter, and in the larger rural garden carefully selected specimens will really enhance the setting and also give shelter.

I can also understand that will the current economic situation planting a tree wouldn't be high on the list for some of you. At this time of the year you will be able to buy your trees bare-rooted leaving them a lot cheaper to buy. With some care and attention they will grow just as good and sometimes even better. So why not give your local Garden Centre or Nursery a visit and see what's on offer.



Seed sowing.

Seed sowing need not be a chore or a difficult job to do. If you follow the easy steps below you should have your seeds germinating in no time!

1. Seeds can be sown in small pots or seed trays. All you have to do is fill them with good compost. Once your container is filled firm it lightly ether with your fingers or a flat piece of wood.

2. Now you are ready for seed sowing. Tear open your pack of seeds and empty them out into the palm of your hand. Your seeds should be sown now as evenly as possible. How many seeds you sow depends on the size of container you are using.

3. Once you have sown your seeds then they will need to be covered with a thin layer of compost. This can be achieved by sieving some compost through a garden riddle. If you don't have one of these then you could use a plastic plant pot instead.

4. Then label your seeds, and water them lightly using a fine rose on the end of your watering can. Your seeds should now be placed in a warm place, I.E. kitchen window, or garage window to germinate. If you have a seed tray with a lid then use it, if not simply cover your seeds with cling film.

5. You should check your seeds every day or two for progress and watering. If the seeds compost is allowed to dry out this will prevent your seeds from germinating.

6. When your seeds start to germinate and the weather gets warmer you can place your seed trays outside in your mini-greenhouses. Take care not to leave your seeds out in cold weather as this will either kill them or do them some damage.

7. Once your seeds have germinated up to an inch or so they can be transplanted into larger containers, for growing on or growing in the ground.

Good luck with your seed sowing, there is nothing better than the taste or the satisfaction of growing your own vegetables.


Perennials from seed.

Sow your perennials from seed now and you can have flower beds bursting with colour this summer. Perennials are summer flowering plants which will flower year after year and die away in the autumn / winter.

Some good examples of perennials are Dianthus, Delphinium, Lupin, and Dahlia, there are many other species and varieties available too choose from. Before you begin seed sowing you should make sure you have sterile seed trays, or containers for sowing your seeds into this will reduce diseases affecting your seedlings. It is also a good idea to use fresh compost either one especially for seed sowing or a good multipurpose compost. Once you have these items ready you can begin to fill your containers and then firm the compost down lightly. Your compost can be moistened before or after seed sowing, but watering it lightly before seed sowing will help the seeds stick to the surface of the compost easier.

The amount of seed you get in a seed packet can vary, a good tip to bear in mind is to tap the seed packet a couple of times before opening so that the seeds fall to the bottom of the packet. This hopefully will avoid you loosing any seeds as you open the packet.

If your seeds are sown thickly they will compete for space more and become leggy. To avoid this try to sow your seeds as evenly as possible and them cover them with a thin layer of compost. Once this is done your can now lightly water your seeds using a small mister or a watering can with a fine rose attached.

It's a good idea to label your seed tray, or container with a small label, add to the label the date the seeds were sown, and what the plant is called. This hopefully will avoid any confusion in the future!

Your seeds don't necessarily need to be placed into a greenhouse for them to germinate properly. A warm room with plenty of light will be all that you seeds will need to start germinating. An ideal place to have them would be a kitchen window or a garage with a window.