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- Gardeners’ Corner
- Calendar
- May
- The Flower Garden
The Flower Garden
Now is the time to remove old leaves and flowered stems of hellebores, collecting seed if required. Taller growing herbaceous plants should have supports provided before they start to flop: flower rings are so useful for this purpose if you don’t have a supply of Birch or Hazel twigs. Deal with weeds in the border, hoeing them off when the weather is sunny and soil is dry. Top dress borders with homemade compost or Carr’s Soil Improver (as used throughout John’s Garden and the Nursery Show Garden).Treat paths and paved areas with a residual weed killer (Pathclear) to prevent weed growth
Dead head spring-flowering bulbs as they finish flowering and keep moist and feed with Blood, Fish and Bone or a foliar spray such as Maxicrop or Miracle-Gro to promote large bulbs for flowering the following spring. Crowded spring flowering bulbs can be divided and replanted. Top dress and feed summer bulbs such as Agapanthus, Crinums, Eremurus, Lilies etc (with any fertilizer that promotes root and bulb development e.g. Bonemeal). Stake lilies and harden off pot grown varieties to plant out later in the season.
Sow, in their flowering positions, hardy annuals such as Calendulas, Candytuft, Convolvulus, Cornflowers, Echium, Eschscholzia, Godetia, Helichrysum Linaria, Linum, Nigella, Poppies, Scabious, Sunflowers and Tropaeolum. Half‑hardy annuals such as Ipomoea, Mina lobata, and Cosmos can also be sown in the garden during warm spells and those raised under glass earlier in the spring can be hardened off and planted out, weather permitting. Sweet Peas can be planted: ensure that they do not dry out and keep weed free. Pinch out the side shoots and tendrils to ensure good-sized blooms.
Plant out summer/ early autumn flowering Chrysanthemums in humus enriched soil. Towards the end of the month plant out Dahlias in well prepared ground and stake and tie them; in colder areas delay planting until early June.
Plant up hanging baskets and containers, these may be placed directly outdoors in sheltered districts, but must be protected from any potentially frosty periods by bringing them indoors. The best baskets will be grown on first in a protected environment such as a greenhouse or conservatory early in the month. Always use a quality container and hanging basket compost such as Supagro (only from Ashwood Nurseries).It also helps to add water retaining granules and slow release Osmacote Plant Food Tablets. Bedding plants, geraniums, fuchsias and begonias etc may be planted outside when the danger of frost has passed.
Spray roses every 3 weeks as a precautionary measure against pests and diseases with combined rose foliar feed and fungicide/ pesticide.
Thin out shoots on established herbaceous plants, feed, mulch and stake. You may like to try out the ‘Chelsea Chop’ whereby clumps of perennials are literally chopped back by one third to a half using shears or secateurs, so called because it’s best done round about the time of The Chelsea Flower Show. This will delay the flowering until later in the summer and keep plants shorter and more compact. Phlox, Echinacea, Sedum and Helenium respond well to this technique.
Lift, divide and replant Polyanthus and Primroses once most of the flowers have faded. Deadhead pansies and violas to prolong flowering. Spray Hollyhocks with a systemic fungicide to prevent hollyhock rust. Apply a vine weevil killer to all non-edible weevil prone subjects such as Hydrangeas, Primulas and Lilies as a preventative measure. Look out for the larvae of Viburnum and Lily Beetles, physically remove them as they appear and use a proprietary systemic insecticide to prevent further attack.
Deadhead Rhododendrons and Azaleas after flowering and trim back Camellias if needed, removing dead, weak or straggly growth. All will benefit from an application of an ericaceous plant food.
Pot grown Clematis can be planted now and should be planted slightly deeper than they were growing in the pot to protect against clematis wilt and encourage a well-branched plant. Tie in young shoots on established clematis regularly and keep well watered during dry spells. Apply a proprietary clematis food. Clematis will grow rapidly during May and sometimes the foliage will turn black or brown and shrivel up overnight. This often happens when the thin stems of the clematis actually knuckle or twist, preventing the sap from rising. This is why it’s so important to tie in clematis securely even at their base to prevent movement in windy conditions. Cut the affected clematis back hard and it should re-shoot. This collapse of the plant should not be confused with Clematis Wilt which is a fungal disease where the clematis will collapse with blackened foliage, but where the stems have a central black core visible. Large-flowered hybrids are more prone than the smaller-flowered varieties. Clematis Wilt is nearly always fatal and there is no chemical control. Plants should be dug out and burned. After flowering, thin out Clematis montana, cutting back some of the older wood.
Many evergreen plants such as Camellia, Citrus, Bay and Holly may have a black sooty deposit on the upper leaf surface of plants The problem is caused by one of several species of scale insect adhering to the underside of foliage. The solution to the problem is twofold; initially you need to kill the adults by spraying upwards into the centre of the plant to ensure the undersides of all leaves are coated with a pesticide such as a proprietary systemic insecticide. Please remember there are limitations on using this and other pesticides on food crops such as Bay, therefore follow the instructions carefully. Secondly you need to wipe off the black sooty deposit which is a fungus developing on the excreta from the scale insects which drops onto the upper surface of leaves below them. Unfortunately the insecticides currently available only kill adults and it may be necessary to spray several times during the season to eradicate subsequent generations of eggs as they hatch. Growing the plants in perfect condition, keeping them well fed, properly pruned and without competition from other plants will help to minimise the risk of this common problem.
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