Our passionate gardening contributor, Felicity is embarking on a new cutting garden project...
I have 10 large beds almost ready to plant, so I have a mountain of seedlings in the greenhouse, some ready to be potted on and others in need of direct sowing into the ground.
April/May is a good time to direct sow seeds and I have endless packets ready to go, including Cosmos, Ammi majus, Nigella (love in a mist), Cornflowers, Cerinthe, and Antirrhinums. The seed packets give instructions as to when to sow either inside or out.
I am also growing for pots to display around the house and at the local pub. For these, I always prepare narcissus and tulip combinations in the Autumn, which are looking stunning now – particularly after all the sunshine has brought them into flower.
My top tip is to buy zinc outer containers into which you can plunge pre-planted black garden pots – recycled from former purchases. This makes it easy to transition between seasonal displays – for example, my winter violas can be easily replaced by narcissus and then tulips, before the summer displays are ready at the end of May.
One of my most trusted summer pot combinations is a pelargonium, surrounded by Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican daisy) and Verbena rigida. I have a Pelargonium ‘Rose of Attar’, bought at least 3 years ago, from which I’ve taken endless cuttings.
Pelargoniums and Geraniums are easy to take cuttings from – and now is a good time to do it. Cut just below a leaf node – this is where the cambium (the growth hormone) is strongest. Cut off the lower leaves leaving only a pair. Sink into well-draining compost around the outer edges of a pot and leave in a warm, light place.
Dahlias are a must for a cut flower garden and it isn’t too late to buy the tubers. I stored mine in the garage over winter. They dry up, so I planted them in pots about 6 weeks ago and have been watering them. They are beginning to shoot in their pots.
One mistake I made 2 years ago was to plant these newly shooting tubers into their border during warm weather in early May. We had a late frost that year and the shoots were ruined, resulting in some never flowering. So, if you start growing dahlias in pots, be careful when you plant them out. If there is a chance of a frost, cover them in fleece. Alternatively, plant the tubers straight into the ground around now. They will flower any time from July/August right through until the first frosts in October.
Now is also a good time to plant your seed potatoes – after chitting them, to kick start the shoots. Dig a trench about 4 inches deep and plant the seed potatoes about a foot apart. When the shoots start to appear above the ground, I like to earth them up. This process can be done with a rake to just cover the green shoots and can be done repeatedly as the shoots emerge until a mound forms. This is a great way of eradicating weeds!
Salads can be sown any time now and it is best to sow little and often so that you can harvest according to need and you don’t have it all at once. Everyone has favourite vegetables that they like to grow, and my advice would be to only grow what you like to eat. A glut of runner beans is not my favourite! We like beetroot, peas, courgettes, and salads. I find carrots impossible because of carrot fly and pumpkins take up a lot of space and need a lot of water. I have turned vegetable beds over to perennials (crops that come every year) like asparagus, raspberries, currants, and globe artichokes.
Before I go, I must tell you… I have discovered a new compost which I have delivered. It is Dalefoot and is made from bracken and wool in the Lake District. It is peat-free but is very moisture retentive, something I haven’t found very common in peat-free composts.
