A Meldreth Garden

Severe frosts should now be past. With the cold and wet we are a couple of weeks behind expectation in the garden, leading to an extended spring display that is delightful.

It has been a trial to get seeds sown and plants planted in the allotment this spring. The weather made the soil difficult to cultivate, but it is all done now, if a bit late. The third sowing of broad beans made it. The first planting was frozen off, and in my second attempt the seeds were taken by rodents.

A recommended plant I have had for a few years is the Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria) a staple of the cottage garden which comes in a range of colours. I have a white cultivar, Alstroemeria [Princess Fabiana]. This looks spectacular and delicate, but is rugged, reliable and robust. Flowering from late spring to autumn, it is frost hardy and grows in difficult dry positions. It will not tolerate standing in wet soil. To encourage new flowering stems, pull out the old flowered stems and feed during the growing season. I have taken softwood basal cuttings this spring and await the outcome.

Another propagation task was digging up clumps of primulas after flowering, dividing and replanting. I have separate colourways in different flower beds, cream, white, red and mauve.

I have just planted two bare-rooted apple cultivars, Royal Gala and Braeburn, both on M26 rootstock. These are in the allotment, to be trained as step over apples at 30cm high, to separate the paths from the vegetable beds.

Tasks in the Flower Garden

 Deadhead spring flowering bulbs. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps and apply a liquid fertiliser, allow foliage to die down naturally.

 Take softwood cuttings of tender perennials, e.g. marguerites (argyranthemum), fuchsia, dahlia and geraniums (pelargonium). Perennials showing new shoots can be propagated via basal stem cuttings.

 Put supports in place for tall plants in the borders - peonies, delphiniums and oriental poppies, etc. Tie in climbers to their supports - for example honeysuckle, clematis and wisteria.

 Cut back tender shrubs like penstemons, caryopteris and fuchsia that can get leggy and ungainly. Clip evergreen hedges e.g. yew. Prune out frost damage from shrubs. Prune forsythia, ribes (flowering currant), weigela, clematis montana and chaenomeles japonica (ornamental quince) after flowering.

 Lift and divide congested clumps of iris after flowering.

 Undertake the Chelsea chop on perennial heleniums, rudbeckia and sedums, etc. to extend the flowering and enhance self-support.

 Start sowing the seeds of biennials, foxgloves, hollyhocks, sweet william and wallflowers.

 Plant autumn flowering bulbs and then summer bedding at the end of the month.

Tasks in the Vegetable Garden

 Earth up potatoes as shoots appear, to protect from late frosts.

 Harden plants raised in the greenhouse by gradually acclimatising to the outside before planting out.

 Transplant leeks to their final growing positions.

 Sow hardy and half hardy vegetables outdoors, e.g. roots and brassicas. Sow tender vegetables, e.g., pumpkin, squash and courgettes indoors.

 Prepare trenches for planting out French and climbing beans; greedy plants that will need moisture.

 Lookout for the myriad of pests such as sawfly on gooseberries, vine weevil grubs in pots, black fly on beans, green fly and scale insect on other plants and red spider-mite in the greenhouse.

Ian McPhee

The

Over 60? Feeling a bit lonely?

Why not try our Day Centre?

 Meet up for a chat and lunch?

 Our Day Centre is comfortable, friendly and easily accessed.

 Open Tuesday to Friday every week.

 Transport can be arranged.

Why not give us a call?

To find out more, just call us at Moorlands Court on 01763 260564, or email : denise.taylor@chsgroup.org.uk

Leather, Rugs & Stone/Tile Cleaning

Call

Upholstery,

Little Hands Nursery School

The Moor, Melbourn

A Private Nursery School specialising in quality care & preschool education for the under fives

High staff to child ratio, individual child centred planning & learning, Flexible booking system for the 08.00am –5.30pm nursery day. Optional holiday clubs available, dedicated baby room for children under two

We accept nursery funding giving 15 & 30 hours/week of free funded nursery for all 3 and 4 year olds & eligible 2 year olds

For further information contact Sharon Tutty,nursery manager on 01763 260964 lh-melbourn@btconnect.com

Little Hands is also at Bourn, Linton and Newton visit the website at www.littlehands.co.uk