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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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The new gardening year starts here…
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| Thursday, 3rd January 2008 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
As we push down the last crumbs from the Christmas cake, and the final mince pies of the year are consumed, many of us tend to sit back and start to regret that bloated feeling. Couldn’t look another sprout in the face! Just how much weight have we put on over Christmas? It is time to get out in the garden and work off some of that Christmas excess.
January is arguably the second quietist month of the year garden-wise (December is when there is less to do, and much of our time then is spent on the preparations for Christmas).
The New Year is a new start horticulturally speaking. And anyone who has maintained a garden for more than a year or two will know that gardening is cyclical.
This cycle starts now. This is the perfect time to get out there and do all of the bigger jobs – like making a new bed, or digging, doing the heavier pruning, or even grubbing out a nuisance tree, and so on. It’s the kind of work that can only be done when there is no vegetation to get in your way.
It’s also the kind of work that will keep you nice and warm! The digging and ground preparation carried out now will pay dividends in spring, because then you’ll be able to get out there straight away sowing the spring seeds, and planting the spring plants; the groundwork will have been done.
But what can be sown now? Actually, a surprising amount! Sweet peas can be started now in cold frames for planting out in May. They’ll thrive in any fertile, well-drained soil.
Carefully nick each seed with a sharp knife opposite the ‘eye’, to remove a small piece of the hard seed coat; this will improve the germination rate. Sow about 1cm (1/2in) deep in trays or deep pots containing seed-sowing compost.
Several vegetables can be sown now in modular seedtrays in a heated greenhouse or propagator, including cauliflower, leek, and onion for planting out in late March, and harvesting later in the year. The guidelines on the seed packets will give a reasonable insight into sowing and harvesting interval, which will vary with each variety.
In each case you should fill the seed tray with a sowings compost and make a small hole about 0.5cm (1/4in) deep in each ‘compartment’. Sow one or two seeds in each hole, cover with compost and ensure that the tray is kept continuously moist. Don’t forget to label each tray.
Others for sowing in the greenhouse now include broad beans (into pots), Brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, hardy lettuces (into trays) and rocket and radishes (straight into soil beds in the greenhouse).
Lettuces, rocket and radish can also be sown outdoors in the vegetable plot now.
Gardeners who see the lovely Himalayan blue poppy (Meconopsis betonicifolia) invariably fall in love with it. It is a short-lived perennial, but each summer of its life it produces lovely bright blue poppy flowers – blooms that are like no other flower. Seeds of this plant may be sown in January, when light levels are lower, and the problems of scorching and heat stress are minimized.
Sow the seeds in a seedtray full of sowing compost and cover with a thin layer of vermiculite. Provide a temperature of 15°C (59°F) and keep the compost barely moist. After four to six weeks the seedlings should be ready for moving up into pots.
Apart from the digging, the heavier work and the odd bit of sowing, January is also the best time for planning ahead. Where are you going to put that new shed/greenhouse/pond? Why not get out there with a sheet of paper (graph paper if you want to do it properly), and plan any new features?
Once you have a plan, you automatically have the ‘shopping list’, and winter can be the best time to go to the garden centre and make your purchases; it’s usually a lot quieter and there are some great deals to be had.
Yes, gardening is cyclical and, being the beginning of the year it all starts here. Now, what is the first thing on the list …! Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
- If you haven’t made up one for yourself, pop down to the garden centre to buy a ready-made container of winter-flowering plants.
- Ponds are likely to freeze over in winter; consider using a pond heater to keep an area of the surface free of ice. This will help to save your fish.
- Mark the position of parsnip roots before the foliage dies down otherwise you may have difficulty locating them later.
- Examine stored pears regularly. Enjoy them the moment they soften and reach their peak of flavour and before they develop a mealy taste and texture.
- Remove the old leaves from hellebores, such as the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger), as the flowers begin to emerge, so that the delicate blooms can be seen at their best.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
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