Gardening

Article from the Hayling Island Horticultural Society from liese holden

‘no mow may’ certainly provokes many different reactions from gardeners many have embraced the idea this year, leaving gardens to grow naturally if possible, try and leave a small area of the garden uncut for the whole summer now we have moved into July, we are at the prime time for our gardens and garden spaces and there is certainly a great deal to be getting on with if you do have an established spring flowering meadow area, the end of the month is the time to cut it back but leave the cut material on the surface to drop seeds for future growth roses are in full bloom but make sure you cut away any suckers (these grow beneath the graft which is the knobbly bit at the bottom!) if you have planted out sweet peas keep feeding them and deadheading to promote longer flowering period – this applies to all flowering plants in the garden cut back any early perennials such as poppies, lupins and delphiniums and they will potentially produce some more flowers this year as plants grow they will being to flop and early staking will look more natural and ensure they stay up – especially when the hayling sea winds start to blow! also to encourage plants to send down strong roots, try and water less regularly with more water when you do surface sprinkling just encourages to roots to grow upwards to find water obviously plants and containers dry out more quickly and will need more water if you enjoy planting vegetables, now is the time to sow kale, spring cauliflower, savoy cabbage and turnips courgettes, pumpkins and marrows can be sown direct outdoors as well – make sure they have plenty of sun and add some organic matter to the soil keep sowing lettuces and other salad leaves to give you a steady supply throughout the summer french and runner beans will also be flourishing outdoors so make sure you give them plenty of support tomatoes will be showing flowering trusses now and this is the when they need a regular feed of potash (or high potassium) feed if you enjoy propagating – this is the time to take softwood cuttings choose non-flowering shoots about 10cm long and cut just above a leaf node remove all the lower leaves and place in compost leaving two leaves above the compost. cover with plastic and keep moist in a warm place once roots appear they can potted on, ready to produce new plants we are planning to hold a pruning and propagating workshop in september, so keep an eye on our website for details finally, following the success of last year ’ s event, we are holding another Quiz night and fish supper on Friday 10th November – it will have some gardening themes but horticultural knowledge will not be essential! all these events are held in the united reformed church hall in hollow lane and full details can be found on our website and facebook page

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