Oh fantastic, it’s May! And what’s more, we 3Growbags are celebrating a hardly-believable TEN years since our first post together on May 5, 2016!
But amid all the champers and balloons, there are still gardening tasks to do, such as sowing fast-growing climbers, pinching out seedlings and pruning lilac…..
Later seed-sowing
As I mentioned in my last Tips column, it’s still fine to sow seeds now for this summer. The seedlings will flower later but that’s okay, isn’t it? Lots of March- and April- sown sweet-peas and other annuals can run out of steam by the end of July, and you’ll be able to switch in your later-sown young plants, to carry the
And how about sowing some quick-maturing annual climbers? I had a lot of success last year with Tropaeolum peregrinum (canary creeper) with its pretty little spurred yellow flowers festooning the twining stems and bright green foliage. I sowed mine at the beginning of April and arranged them in a pot to swarm up canes; but this is a fast grower – you could definitely sow seed now. Morning glory, black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia) and climbing nasturtiums are other perfect candidates.
Another sort of climber entirely would be ornamental gourds which Laura will be sowing this week. She had huge success with these last year, and was able to construct a fabulous display for Hallowe’en!
Still on the subject of seeds, a couple of reminders:
a) Masses of annual flowers bloom MUCH more if you pinch out the growing tip (the ‘apical bud’) when the plants are 4-6” (10-15 cm) tall – do this with zinnias, cosmos, snapdragons (Antirrhinum), sweet peas, marigolds and petunias. (Basil is much leafier if it is pinched out, too). The flowers grown as large single blooms such as sunflowers, poppies and delphiniums are less likely to take kindly to this treatment, and it can spoil the natural shape of the plant or even prevent flowering.
b) Just because the days have really warmed up for most of us, it doesn’t mean that you should neglect the ‘hardening off’ process – any plants started inside need to be acclimatised to outdoor conditions for a week or so (outside during the day, inside at night) before going into the
Lilac time
I was reading about lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) the other day. Did you know that it is not actually native to the UK (comes from the Balkan peninsula) but we have been cultivating it here since the 16th century? Or that its flowers are beloved by masses of pollinating butterflies, bumblebees and hummingbird hawkmoths, while privet hawk moth caterpillars and leafcutter bees eat or use the leaves? Wow! As popular with wildlife as they are with us! For Victor Hugo, the scent of lilacs brought the sense of ‘eternal spring’ to his heart. These stalwarts of the British country
These are pretty tough shrubs and can take some hard pruning when it’s needed. Take out any dead, diseased or damaged stems, and try to open up the centre if it’s become congested with crossing branches. You want the air to flow freely through them if possible. If you are planning to reduce the height of a very tall overgrown lilac, it might help to use a ‘three-year plan’ – take out a third of the tallest, oldest wood this year, do the same for the next two years. An entirely replenished and reinvigorated shrub by 2029 – perfect!
Take note
No matter what size your patch, balcony, yard, whatever, PLEASE tell me you keep a notebook about your gardening exploits. Names of plants you’ve seen, or bought, or idolised, dates of
Gardening shorts
- If you grow variegated shrubs, take out any shoots that have not developed the variegation. They will be stronger than the variegated ones, and can soon overwhelm them.
- Remember to thin out rows of veg seedlings. Pull unwanted ones out gently trying not to disturb the ones you’re leaving in situ. It’s quite a good plan to do this job in stages until the final row of plants are all at the correct spacing. You may be able to replant some of the seedlings you pulled out into a new row or into gaps if you are quick, deft and careful.
- I’m a massive fan of catmint! To make more plants easily, take cuttings before this year’s flower buds form.
- Pulmonaria leaves can become very mildewed in dry spells. Luckily they don’t mind at all if you cut off all the affected leaves, water the plants well and wait three weeks or so for a lovely new crop of healthy leaves to emerge.
- We were very sorry to hear that Nigel Dunnett, one of the most influential people in contemporary
garden design has died. Read Laura’s article about him below.
A small crab apple tree that is better than all the others according to Louise Sims, who nominates this as one of her Great Plants this Month – here’s why:
Nigel Dunnett
The horticultural world has been saddened this week by the news that Professor Nigel Dunnett has succumbed to cancer at the age of just 63.
As many readers of our blog will know, Nigel was an absolute hero to me (Laura), and his work on ecological planting schemes such as those at the Barbican in London, for the Olympic park in 2012 and the Superbloom at the Tower of London were an inspiration for us all to try new approaches in our own gardens.
Nigel’s aim was to instil a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty of flowering plants through the creation of ‘ecological explosions’ that not only looked stunning but also created a Mecca for insects.
Wanting to put his genius into action, I have sown one of Nigel’s famous Pictorial Meadow seed mixes in my
If you wanted to have a go at creating one yourself, I wrote a blog post on the idea and implementation of a Pictorial Meadow, and also here is a short video of how to go about it.
Here’s that great garden notebook that’s just arrived in our online shop:
Do you want colour in the
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