|
This month in the garden
 |
June
Essential tasks for June
This is a rewarding month in the garden as you start to see the fruits of your labours. Herbaceous borders come alive with colour and the vegetable patch is full of fresh pickings. Keep your garden looking its best with our guide to this month's jobs.
In this article
Flower garden Greenhouse Kitchen garden General care
Flower garden
Lilies
Potted lilies will be growing quickly now and as their flowers start developing they will need some support. Push several canes into the compost around the edge of the pot, linking them up with string to provide stability. If border lilies are not supported by neighbouring plants, use stakes around these too.
Roses
Sprinkle rose fertiliser around roots to encourage strong growth and a good flower display. Water in if rain does not fall within a couple of weeks or hoe into the soil, taking care not to harm the roots.
Bearded iris
Once irises have finished flowering in June, congested clumps can be lifted, divided and replanted. Reduce the leaf area by half and replant so that the rhizomes rest at the soil surface. Use our guide to dividing irises to get the best results from your plants.
Primulas
Dig up large clumps now and divide into individual plants, each with leaves and roots. Replant into newly prepared soil. Learn more about these beautiful plants with our primula plant profile.
Summer bedding plants
Plant out tender bedding plants once all danger of frost has passed. If they have been grown in the greenhouse, harden off in a cold frame for a few days before planting out. Pots and trays of bedding plants can be placed on the patio during the day, but moved back under cover at night. Give them a boost by watering them in with liquid fertiliser.
Lupins and early perennials
Remember to cut off the old flower stems before they start to set seed. This will tidy the appearance of the plant but as an added bonus may even encourage a second flush of flowers. Also keep a watchful eye out for lupin aphids which should be controlled with an insecticide if necessary.
Greenhouse
Cuttings
As soon as cuttings taken earlier in the season have produced a good root system, or plants have outgrown their pots, pot them into a slightly larger pot. Try and use the same compost as they were potted in before. Don't overfill with compost, but leave a gap at the top of the pot that can be watered into.
Fuchsias
Many young plants, including fuchsias, benefit from having their shoot tips pinched out to encourage branching. If left, shoots can grow very long and lanky, while pinching out creates bushier plants with more stems that ultimately carry more blooms. Our fuchsia plant profile has advice on which varieties to grow.
Take cuttings
Take cuttings of geraniums, fuchsias, coleus and other houseplants.
Hippeastrum
Pick off dead flowers and seed-heads, unless you are aiming to save seed for new plants. Let the stem die down naturally, then cut it away neatly at its base.
Feed containerised plants
Most composts only contain sufficient nutrients to feed plants for about four to six weeks after potting up. Potted plants will then benefit from a weekly liquid feed to promote strong growth and generous flowering and fruiting. Learn the best way to feed your plants with our handy guide.
Greenhouse shading
Paint greenhouses with a shading paint or put roller blinds or shade netting in place for hot days.
Tomatoes
Tap the blooms on greenhouse tomatoes to improve pollination. There are more tips for growing tomatoes in our guide to using a growing bag.
Kitchen garden
Vegetable seedlings
Thin out rows of vegetable seedlings growing from earlier sowings, such as beetroot, lettuce and radish. Final spacings are usually indicated on seed packets. Congested seedlings never reach their full potential, as they distort one another as they grow, resulting in a much smaller crop. Carefully pull out unwanted seedlings, leaving the rest at the desired spacing, then water the row to settle the soil back around the roots of the remaining ones. Crops to sow outside in early June include runner beans, dwarf French beans, kohl rabi, carrots, marrows, cauliflowers, peas, ridge cucumbers, sweet corn, swede, lettuce, endive, squashes and spinach. There's more advice in our growing fruit and vegetables section.
Look out for pests
As the weather warms up, and spring moves into summer, the garden becomes a real battleground, with pests attacking flowers, fruits and vegetables as soon as your back is turned. Be on the lookout for the first signs of attack, picking off any pests found. Weigh up the pros and cons of leaving plants to look after themselves and putting up with some damage, or applying regular preventive sprays to stop pests taking hold. For instance, gooseberries are almost always attacked by sawfly caterpillars and a preventive spray will stop leaves being eaten away to their skeletons.
Leeks
A good crop of slightly smaller leeks can be grown by multi-seeding them into modules of compost. Sown in February or March, modules can be planted out in May or June, leaving the leeks to grow in clumps. Space the modules 15cm to 20cm (6in to 8in) in rows 30cm (12in) apart.
Cane fruits
Tie new canes of raspberries and blackberries on to support wires as they grow. Keep them separate from last year's shoots which will flower and fruit this summer.
Bird control
Spread nets over soft fruit bushes, such as currants, and over strawberries growing in rows or in containers. Once blackbirds and other birds find fruits to their taste they will return again and again and will quickly strip plants of unprotected fruit.
General care
Pruning shrubs
Many spring-flowering shrubs can be pruned as soon as their flowers have started to fade. Any shoots that have carried flowers can be cut back, shortening them to shape the shrub and control its size and vigour. Forsythia can grow large and ungainly if left to its own devices, so prune to give the shrub a definite shape and form. This and other shrubs, such as Berberis darwinnii, are sometimes grown as hedges, so can be pruned to give a more formal structure. All the flowering stems of Prunus triloba can be pruned to their woody base, while selective pruning on philadelphus and weigela stops them getting large and woody.
Pond weed
Twist blanket weed out of ponds with a long stick.
Lawns
Mow lawns more frequently and lower the cutting height if grass is growing very strongly. Our lawncare section has more tips on getting the perfect lawn.
You can also watch Alan's advice on how to feed your lawn and keep it looking good throughout the summer.
Encouraging buds
Sometimes buds on the stems of apple and pear trees remain dormant and don't develop. This isn't a problem unless you are trying to train the tree into a formal shape and need a shoot to grow from the exact position of the dormant bud. Notching is a technique you can use to try and force it into growth. Use a sharp knife to cut out a small piece of bark just above the bud. Do this during the growing season and the sap flowing along the stem will be directed towards the bud instead of by-passing it, and should encourage the bud to develop into a shoot.
Thin seedlings
Thin out seedlings of hardy annuals sown directly into borders.
Courtesy of BBC
April
Flower garden
Prune shrubs
Many shrubs will benefit from a trim this month to keep them tidy and encourage new growth. Shorten the shoots of cape fuchsia, cutting back to strong sideshoots, shaping the plant and relieving congestion. Trim over lanky winter-flowering jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum plants and tie in long shoots to their supports to tidy the display.
Hard pruning
Hard prune tall old stems on Buddleja davidii, Leycesteria formosa and other fast-growing shrubs that flower on new wood. Many dogwoods and willows, grown as clumps and valued for their colourful winter stems, should also be cut back hard now, right down to a stubby base, about 30cm (12in) from the ground. Other shrubs that respond well to hard pruning include the golden-leaved elder, smoke bush and purple hazel, which will then produce fresh young growth and often brighter and larger leaves.
Keep spring pots looking good
A little attention to spring-flowering pots will ensure they look their best right through until May. Pick off dead flower-heads from primulas and winter-flowering pansies to encourage plants to develop further flowers. Also pick off the faded heads from spring bulbs, such as daffodils, but leave their foliage intact. Compost in pots can also dry out, so check with a finger to see how moist it is, and water well if it has dried out.
Heathers
Clip old flowers off winter-flowering heathers. Take care not to trim back into old wood.
Soil preparation
Continue forking over the soil between shrubs, teasing compost into the surface. Prepare areas where summer bedding will be planted out in late May.
Roses
Complete rose pruning in March before they start into strong growth. Shorten all shoots, cutting back to an outward-facing bud. Learn how to prune your roses with our handy video clips.
Summer bulbs
Many summer-flowering bulbs can be planted in March and April. In mild areas, dahlia tubers can be planted outside, covered with about 10cm (4in) of soil. In cold regions, delay planting until later in April. In the coming months, plant groups of gladioli at intervals to extend their flowering season. Grow lilies in pots so that they can be moved into the garden to fill any gaps.
Boost your borders
If you have any gaps in borders you can drop in your blooming pots or aquatic baskets or they can be dropped into the top of an ornamental patio pot. A succession of these pots will provide blooms right through spring. Once flowering is over they can be moved from their prime location. Keep them well-fed and watered, and allow the bulbs to die down naturally. Look after them well and they'll reward you with more blooms next spring. Alternatively, you can sow quick-growing hardy annuals directly into the soil during April.
Spring bulbs
Mark any congested clumps that have flowered poorly with a label to remind you to lift and divide them later in the year. Give every clump of bulbs a thorough soaking with a liquid feed.
Snowdrops
Divide any congested clumps, spacing out the bulbs when replanting. Plant them fairly deeply, watering in well with a liquid feed.
Mulch
Spread a thick layer of compost or well-rotted manure as a mulch around established shrubs and along the base of hedges to help conserve moisture in the soil and keep down annual weeds. Learn about the different mulches available to gardeners.
Sweet peas
Sow sweet peas outside where you want them to flower.
Watch Alan's guide to growing sucessful sweet peas.
Greenhouse
Time to get sowing
Sow tomato plants in a warm place for growing in unheated greenhouses or planting outside in early June. Also sow aubergines, capsicum, celeriac, peppers and celery. Cucumbers and melons can be sown in late April. Half-hardy bedding plants can also be sown this month in trays in the greenhouse or on window-sills. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick out into small individual pots or space out in seed trays. If bushy plants need more space, pot up on their own. Water regularly and feed weekly.
Hanging baskets
Plant up baskets with fuchsias and tender perennials, then hang them in the greenhouse to develop. Use our step-by-step guide to planting a hanging basket.
Herb cuttings
Tip out pots of well-rooted cuttings taken last summer and pot them up separately.
Summer bulbs
Buy bulbs, such as eucomis and begonias, from garden centres to grow in pots for extra summer flower colour.
Cannas
A variety of dormant canna rhizomes are available from garden centres. Pot up into 15cm (6in) pots, grow on in a heated greenhouse and plant out in June. Learn more about these exotic-looking plants.
Begonias
Continue planting tubers in pots in the greenhouse. Always ensure the slightly concave surface of the begonia tuber is uppermost, and just cover with compost. Pot on as plants grow, feeding weekly.
Cauliflower
Prick out seedlings from earlier sowings, spacing them out in seed trays to grow on for planting out later in the spring.
Kitchen garden
Crops to sow outdoors
Crops to sow outside or under cloches in March and early April include mangetout, broad beans, beetroot, lettuce, parsnips, onions, peas, spinach, radish, turnips and herbs. Sow Brussels sprouts, summer cauliflower and cabbage in a seedbed to transplant to final positions in May.
Onions leeks and garlic
Plant out onion sets and seedlings that have already been grown in modular trays. Grow them in rows, leaving space to get your hoe in for weeding. Plant out individual cloves of garlic, placing them about 5cm (2in) deep and 15cm (6in) apart. Sow leeks in a nursery bed outside. These can be transplanted in summer to their final rows. Shallots should already have been planted, but if not do so as soon as possible.
Growing bags
Compost-filled growing bags are an ideal way to grow a wide range of crops, from tomatoes and cucumbers to peppers, aubergines and melons. By using fresh bags each year, you can avoid the disease problems associated with growing crops in greenhouse border soil. There are many types of bag, with both peat-based and peat-free composts, some with added nutrients and wetting agents. Bring them into the greenhouse to warm up before planting. Get the best crops from your greenhouse with our guide to using a growing bag.
Feeding fruit
Apply sulphate of potash or a general fertiliser around strawberry plants, fruit bushes and trees.
Pests and diseases
Some varieties of fruit can be regularly attacked by pests and diseases, from sawfly to mildew and scab. You can either leave plants to cope on their own or begin a spraying programme to prevent problems this year. Spot treat greenfly, especially on plum trees, before infestations go out of control and cause lasting damage.
Potatoes
Plant out early potatoes in late March, second earlies in early April, and maincrop varieties towards the end of April. Delay planting in very cold districts.
Sweet corn
Raise plants in pots for planting outside in early summer. Sow in warmth during April.
Peaches
Use a soft brush to hand-pollinate peaches and nectarines growing in pots in the greenhouse.
Asparagus
Plant new crowns of asparagus in well-prepared beds.
General care
Give lawns a rake over
Months of wet weather will have caused moss to become a problem in many lawns. Thick moss quickly smothers out grass, so action is needed this spring to remove it, boost grass growth and improve surface drainage across the lawn. Chemical moss killers can be used to destroy existing moss, but this will still need to be raked out. Far better to use a powered lawn rake to scarify the lawn, raking out moss and debris. These can be hired for a weekend if you don't own one. Afterwards, fork over the whole area to improve surface drainage. Increase frequency of mowing as growth dictates. Later, in April or early May, apply fertiliser and check regularly for weeds, digging out any that you find.
Warming the soil
At this time of year, cold, wet soil can prove fatal to early sowings made outside. By covering prepared beds with cloches you will warm up the soil, protect it from hard frost and keep the rain off. Leave the cloches in place for a couple of weeks, then rake the soil surface before sowing seed or planting out young seedlings. Finally, put the cloches back over them to give your young plants a speedy start.
Weeds
Start spot treating lawns to get rid of any perennial weeds or moss. Hoe during dry weather to prevent weed seedlings establishing.
Restore soil nutrients
Months of rain through autumn and winter will have washed away a large proportion of the soluble nutrients in your soil. As soon as trees, shrubs, roses and hedges surge into new growth their roots will be searching for food, and this is an ideal time to provide it. Sprinkle a general fertiliser, such as blood fish and bone, pelleted poultry manure or something similar, over the soil between established plants. Where possible, hoe into the soil's surface. Clumps of developing bulbs and perennials also benefit from feeding during spring. Later in April apply a high-nitrogen feed to all lawns, too
Frost protection
Keep a few sheets of fleece handy to protect new shoots and blooms of shrubs when sharp frosts are forecast. Camellia and magnolia blooms can quickly become blackened by frost and the newly-emerging leaves of Japanese maples can be scorched. If conditions turn cold and frosty, move pot-grown shrubs to a sheltered position and wrap in protective fleece.
Slugs and snails
Watch out for slugs and snails. Trap them under tiles or grapefruit skins and dispose of them daily. Sprinkling a layer of sand, grit or crushed eggshells around plants may help. Alternatively, sparingly scatter slug pellets around plants most at risk. Never leave pellets in piles. Cover pellets with a tile resting on pebbles to keep them out of sight of birds and animals.
Plant supports
Place plant support frames over clumps of tall perennials so that new stems will grow up through them and hide them completely
Control climbers
Control the growth of climbing plants on walls of houses and outbuildings if they start to block gutters or grow under tiles. Cut them away from doors and windows too.
Revitalise your alpine garden
Whether you have a small alpine garden in a container or an impressive rock garden, now is a good time to clear away dead or overgrown plants to make space for new subjects. Garden centres offer a good range, from houseleeks to miniature shrubs like hebe, and they usually cost about ú1.50 to ú2 each, sometimes less. Improve the planting soil by digging in extra gravel to increase drainage. Then spread a mulch of gravel around the alpines after planting. Use our step-by-step guide to creating an alpine garden.
The Sunday Mirror article Sunday March 1 2009
SPRING COLOUR ; Gardening Create a Garden With Impact and Colour This Spring With Flowers, Foliage and Even the Right Shade of Paint for Your Fences...
by Sunday Mirror; London - 2009-03-01
By Adrienne Wild
CENTREPIECE
A SPRING garden wouldn't be complete without rhododendrons and azaleas. Most are large shrubs but there are dwarf Yakushimanum varieties which are also grafted on to stems to make small trees suitable for small gardens.
Expert tip Think pink this spring and make Rhododendron Morgenrot the centrepiece of your display of beautiful blooms and colour- coordinate your garden furniture to complete the look.
pounds How much? Yakushimanum's cost pounds 21 (www.vermisell.co.uk, 01829 740193).
Flower garden
Plant spring bulbs
Continue planting bulbs for spring-flowering displays. Give priority to daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, fritillarias, erythroniums, irises and small bulbs in rock gardens. Tulips can be kept back for planting later in October and even into early November.
Plant shrubs
Autumn is an ideal time to plant new shrubs and perennials. Use our guide to buying plants to make sure you know what to look out for and what to avoid.
Prune rambling roses
Prune back old flowering stems on rambler roses and tie in any new shoots to the support.
Enjoy seed-heads
The last orange-peel blooms of Clematis orientalis open their fluffy seed-heads as the autumn sun catches their silky, silvery strands. Enjoy the display until late February, when all stems can be untangled and pruned hard back to about 60cm (2ft) above soil level.
Create a crocus carpet
Brighten up an expanse of lawn, especially around trees or in less formal areas, by planting a crocus carpet. The best way to make it look natural is to pick up large handfuls of crocus corms and freely scatter them around. Use a bulb planter to take out cores of soil where they fall, popping a corm into each hole before replacing the turf and watering in. After flowering in spring, allow their grassy foliage to develop and refrain from mowing off until the end of May or early June.
Dahlias
Lift and store dahlia tubers as soon as their foliage has been blackened by the first frost. Cut the hollow stems back down to about 10cm (4in) above the tuber. The tuber should then be stood upside down to allow any water to drain out.
Sweet peas
Sow seeds in pots now, then keep in a cold frame or a sheltered position for the winter. Autumn-raised plants will produce blooms earlier than those sown during spring.
Gladioli
Don't delay digging up gladioli corms. Lift them as soon as possible and lay them out on greenhouse staging to dry before cleaning off the soil and cutting back their old foliage and flower spikes. Pick off any tiny corms that have formed around the parent. Keep them in paper bags, labelled with the variety name, and replant in a nursery bed in late spring to grow them into larger corms of flowering size. Read our gladioli plant profile for growing tips them and varieties to try next year.
Dried flower arrangements
Attractive seed-heads from grasses, annuals and perennials can be cut and used in dried flower arrangements.
Greenhouse
Protect tender perennials
Temperatures in colder areas can drop considerably in October, especially at night. Bring large containers of tender perennials, such as fuchsias, argyranthemums, pelargoniums and abutilons, into the shelter of the greenhouse for winter. Plants growing outside in borders can be carefully lifted, potted up and brought under cover. If their top growth is tall and leggy, trim it back to avoid possible damage.
Check for leaf pests
Thoroughly check plants brought inside for winter for any signs of pests. Treat tehm if necessary and pick off any dead leaves.
Hyacinths
Continue planting bowls of hyacinths for indoor displays. Prepared bulbs are more expensive, but will flower earlier. Look out for multiflora bulbs which produce large clumps of small flower spikes.
Begonias
Reduce the amount of water given to pot-grown tuberous begonias, letting the compost dry out and the tops die off. Later in winter, remove the leaves and compost, dust the tuber with sulphur powder and store in paper bags in a cool, dry place.
Chrysanthemums
Pot-grown, late-flowering chrysanthemums should now have been brought in from outside, to bloom under cover. Check regularly for signs of pests. Maintain good air circulation around plants to prevent diseases.
Kitchen garden
Harvesting crops
Continue harvesting carrots and potatoes for storage, ensuring crops are dry and clean. Never store any produce showing signs of damage or infection.
Crops to sow
Hardy varieties of peas and broad beans can be sown now. Most benefit from cloche protection in winter, especially in very cold areas.
Fruit orders
Plan now for autumn and winter fruit planting, by ordering new varieties of fruit trees, bushes and cane fruits from the VermiSell store.
Tomatoes
Finish picking outdoor tomatoes soon or they may succumb to disease. Green tomatoes can be picked to ripen separately or hang the entire plant in the greenhouse so the fruit can ripen on the vine.
Herbs
Pot up herbs so that they can be grown in a porch or on a windowsill for use during winter. Use our step-by-step guide to help you take cuttings of tender herbs.
Apples
Check if early-ripening apples are ready for harvesting by cupping them in your hand and gently lifting them upwards to see if the fruit comes away easily. If not, leave it to ripen further on the tree. Most early-ripening apples need eating straight away, as they do not store well.
Marrows
Once the skins of ripe marrows have hardened in the sun, they can be cut and stored for winter. Place on a shelf in a cool shed, so the air circulates around them. Our guide to growing marrows and courgettes has plenty of advice on harvesting.
Raspberries
Finish harvesting autumn-ripening varieties. All canes that have carried fruit this year can be cut down to soil level. New canes that form in the spring will produce a crop next autumn.
Blackberries
Pick berries from late-fruiting varieties as they ripen, covering them with netting to keep birds at bay. Once they are finished, cut the fruited canes away at soil level and tie in this year's new canes.
Onions and garlic
Lay onions on greenhouse staging so that their tops and roots completely dry out before storing. Plant out selected varieties of garlic and Japanese onion sets, suitable for autumn planting.
General care
Sow hardy annuals
If you're gardening on a tight budget, sow hardy annuals. These will quickly germinate and the thinned seedlings will flower earlier than spring-sown annuals. If you grew hardy annuals this year, why not save some seeds to sow now or in the spring.
Garden waste
During autumn the garden often produces more waste than you can cope with, so now is the time to consider investing in a shredder and additional compost bins. Recycling organic material by composting it is always preferable to having bonfires, as any neighbour will tell you!
Pond care
Stretch a large piece of small-mesh netting over ponds and water features to prevent autumn leaves from falling in. Peg down the edges. Pick off leaves regularly and remove any that blow in with a small net, taking great care not to damage butyl liners. Also clear away remains of dying aquatic and marginal plants.
Evergreen pots
Empty pots and baskets of summer bedding and plant up with a new selection to provide colour and interest right through autumn and into spring. Use one or two small evergreen shrubs, such as euonymus or dwarf conifers, as structural elements within the pot, filling in around them with seasonal bedding to provide flowers during mild spells.
Irrigation systems
Disconnect seeping hoses and drip irrigation that is no longer needed, give them a clean and store them away for the winter.
Conifers
Autumn is a good time to move established conifers and evergreen shrubs. Dig them up with the largest root ball you can manage. Prepare the new planting site well and keep them well watered until they have established. Protect sensitive varieties from drying winds by surrounding with a netting wind-break.
Sow lawn seed
Finish sowing new lawns while the soil conditions are still warm enough for grass seed to germinate. Turf can still be laid in autumn, if the soil is not too wet. Our guide to autumn lawn care will help you get your grass in good shape for the winter ahead.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/today_in_your_garden/jobs_oct.shtml
Essential tasks for July To give yourself the biggest apple crops from established trees, it's time to tackle summer pruning of spur-fruiting varieties. This encourages the development of short flowering shoots or 'spurs' that go on to bear clusters of fruit. Summer pruning is also ideal for keeping trees in shape.
Find out how to encourage clusters of fruit on your apple trees
Flowers
Pick bulbils from lily stems and pot up for new plants
Give shrubs and perennial plants a liquid feed
Cut down delphiniums once flower spikes fade
See all flowers jobs
Fruit and veg
Pick gooseberries when ripe
Prune bay trees to keep them in shape
Spray apples and gooseberries with a fungicide to protect against mildew
See all fruit & veg jobs
Greenhouse
Hang up sticky yellow traps to catch whitefly and flying insects
Propagate houseplants
Repot any plants that are pot bound or getting top heavy
See all greenhouse jobs
Around the garden
Pick herbs, lavender and everlasting flowers
Be on the lookout for developing pest problems
This is the month for pruning shrubs and roses, dividing perennials, sowing tender plants and mulching fruit trees. Follow our guide to keep your garden looking its best. Order bedding plants Order fuchsias, geraniums, marguerites and other young plug plants from mail-order suppliers. It's also a good time to order summer-flowering bulbs, such as dahlia, gladioli and eucomis. Pruning roses Remove any dead, diseased or damaged stems from roses this month. On bush varieties, cut stems back to an outward-facing bud, shortening them by about a third or half. Pruning shrubs Prune away one or perhaps two flowering shoots from large mahonias each year, after flowering. This will encourage a succession of new replacement shoots to grow up from the base. Old, leggy shoots can be cut right down to ground level or you can stagger the length of stems to create a more interesting shape. The stems of dogwoods, willows, hardy fuchsias and ceratostigma should also be pruned back hard this month to encourage fresh, brightly coloured new growth. Cut down tall stems on Buddleia davidii to emerging shoots lower down the plant, shaping the shrub to control its size. Divide perennials Lift and divide congested clumps of perennials or plant new ones. People gardening on light soils may have completed this task last autumn, but those of us on heavy clay soils benefit from waiting until spring when conditions are warmer and drier. Pruning clematis Summer-flowering clematis varieties that blossom on the current season's growth, such as Clematis 'Etoile Violette', need to have last year's growth pruned out now. Cut any tangled old stems down to a pair of new shoots near ground level as soon as possible. Divide snowdrops Lift and divide any congested snowdrops after flowering but while still in leaf. Carefully tease the clumps apart and replant the bulbs at the same depth they were before. Fertilising Sprinkle general-purpose fertiliser along the base of hedges and around trees and shrubs, followed by a generous mulch of rotted compost. Planting begonia tubers Plant tubers now in trays of moist compost, barely covering the top. Study the tubers carefully before planting and you will notice that they are convex on one side and concave on the other. The concave side should be uppermost in the pot. Keep them in a warm, bright position, watering when the compost dries out. Pot each one up individually when shoots are 5cm to 7.5cm (2in to 3in) lon
|
