Category: April

I am sitting like Miss Havisham at Satis House (minus the wedding dress, but I have cake). All around there is decay and filth. Cobwebs hang from every nook and cranny and the floor is covered in indescribable detritus. Over in the far corner of the room I can just make out some half gnawed bones of what looks like a small animal. The door has bloody claw marks scraped all the way down it as if some poor wretch had made a last ditch bid to escape the indescribable horror of the fate that awaited them. The walls are covered in strange chalked pagan symbols that in places are painted over with what looks like blood. Everything is very dark even though outside the Sun is shining. I think I better get out of Cruella’s (my wife) bedroom before she finds out I’m here and turns me into a toad again.

Don’t worry she won’t find out , she is still at our English house. You will remember from my last post that she flew there (the usual way) with a mission to save our idiot son from coronavirus. Having cast various spells, surrounded his apartment with a Pentangle and flown regular missions around the whole block every night, she assured me this was enough to keep him safe. Unfortunately the government decided to locate a 5,000 bed emergency hospital at the Excel Centre in London, a mere 500 yards outside Cruella’s safety zone. Faced with taking on the whole government she decided to relocate the idiot boy to our house in Rochester for safety. When I asked her how she convinced him to leave his apartment she said it was easy she promised him free beer, wine and takeaways. He is still there now and Cruella is in heaven ministering to his every need like a small Wren to a giant Cuckoo chick.

Anyway enough of stuff we can do nothing about. The real magic is here in the garden where self isolation gives us great opportunities to garden night and day without interruption. Let’s get going.

31st March. Things I have been doing lately:

🏺 Giving pots a make over. No matter how large or small your garden you are bound to have pots around the place. Now the trouble with pots is that most people just stick a plant in, water it occasionaly, and only really look at if it flowers or dies. Now that you have time on your hands I want to encourage you to look at all your pots. At this time of year I check all my pot plants to make sure that I can optimise their performance. The photo below shows a set of pots that I can see need attention for various reasons.

Taken collectively they look a real mess, but they are all suffering from different problems; some of which can be remedied whilst others are terminal and they are headed for the compost bin.

The first plant to be looked at was a large Agave that was suffering from some form of virus that has decimated this plant in our area of Spain. Most of you will have lost this type of plant over the last few years. From the photo below you can see that the plant is severely disfigured and distorted by the virus. There was no way of restoring the plant. In the past I have cut this type of plant right down but the disfiguration comes back on the new growth. It had to be thrown away, but don’t try and compost it as you will introduce the virus to the compost. In my case there was no way it was coming out of its pot as it was tightly bound. The second photo shows the only solution – more added to my large heap of pot crocking that sits beside the compost bins.

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The next pots contained a selection of bulbs that just failed to perform this year. These are stored on the potting bench during the Winter and then brought out in Spring to perform. The first photo below shows how sad they looked. Whilst the second photo shows the problem. The bulbs have become soft, soggy and rotting and would never flower again. Either they had got too wet, or, something had infected the bulbs. Either way they could not be saved.

The next plant wasn’t a lost cause, it just needed some help. From the picture below you can see that this lovely little flowering shrub had become the host for a pernicious weed that was stealing all the goodness from the soil. The remedy was to take it out of the pot, carefully remove every bit of the weed and then repot in fresh compost. The first photo below shows the weed all over the soil but lying low so that you would not notice it. The second shows the remedy. The last photo shows the plant securely repotted and it should hopefully recover. Click on each photo for a larger view.

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The final plant from this sickly selection, is in fact a very healthy plant part of the Bromeliad species this is Aechmea which is very common as a Naya or veranda plant here in Spain. This plant has a particular resonance for me as our idiot son bought this when he was at University and for some peculiar reason named it “Alan”. He studiously neglected it for 4 years – though I am pleased to say not his studies, 1st in a Physics Masters now you ask. This of course is not Alan the First, but is son of Alan as I shall explain below.

Bromeliads are typically watered through the centre of the plant down its funnel of leaves. In addition they famously reproduce in the same pot and end up with lots of crowded plants (which they don’t seem to mind). The photo below shows one of my Aechmea in its undivided state.

To make more plants, all you have to do is ease the plant out of its pot. Then cradling it in your hands gently prise each individual baby plant away from the main plant. The plants do not have a lot of root so don’t worry if it looks as if all you have is just a few leaves. Once you have prised them apart repot the new plants in a nice free draining compost and then place them back into semi shade (the Naya is ideal). They will flourish there and you will have got some plants for free. If you don’t want them all give them away to friends. At the moment I have Alans all over the Naya as Cruella is not here to complain. The photos below show the divided plants and their eventual new home. Click on each photo for a larger view.

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🌺 Renewing compost in various pot plants. Just because you put a plant in a pot a few years ago, doesn’t mean that it will stay happy and healthy for ever. How would you like it if you only ever got fed once? That’s why at this time of year, and especially as you have nothing else to do as you are self isolated, you should replenish the compost in all your pots.

Although I do not have that many plants in pots, I always once a year, renew the compost in each pot (not succulents). All you have to do is scrape away and remove the top layer of soil in the pot. Only do this as far as the main roots, don’t worry if you dig up some fine feeder roots as these will renew themselves. Once you have scooped out as much soil as you safely can, then add into the pot a handful of granulated slow release plant food. Then top the pot up with nice fresh compost from your compost bin or from a bought in bag. Your plants will reward you with fresh vigour and better flowering.

The first photo below shows my compost renewal set up with a stool to sit on (I’m old) and trugs for old soil and for new.

The next photos show the process of scraping out the old soil, note the feeder roots. Whilst doing this take the opportunity to remove any weeds and suckers from the stems. And finally topping up with lush compost. Click on each photo for a larger view.

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🌳 Potting on Fig trees. Every so often I will take hardwood cuttings from trees and try and grow them on. I have been very successful over the years with Fig trees which have a tremendous lust for life and just love to develop from cuttings. However, the trick is to move them on to larger pots every year to 18 months so that they can develop and progress to achieve their potential. The photo below shows three cuttings sitting on the potting bench. These are 18 months old and ready for their next size pot.

The trick to successfully potting on is to make sure that the plant is settled into its new pot at the same level as in its old one. To achieve this you need to place compost in the bottom of the new pot and then rest the plant inside its old pot on top of this until you are happy with its level. Then leaving the plant in its old pot begin to fill around this with the new compost, first photo below. Tamp the compost firmly into place, and then twist the old pot around and carefully remove it from the new compost. If you have done this correctly then you should be left with a pot shaped space inside your new compost, second photo.

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The final photo shows the potted on trees now settling into a Summer of full Sun. These cuttings will give Figs this Summer which are always welcome. Their next stopping point will be planting into the ground; I don’t quite know where.

You remember those times I prayed for rain and lamented the fact that drought was killing everything. You do; good, but forget that, we now have too much, stop praying. Just when the U.K. is sweltering in the hottest Easter for decades, we in Spain who normally laugh at the British Rain are suffering storms and terrible rain. The weather system we are currently afflicted with is called a “gota fria”in Spain (cold drop). This phenomenon normally only arrives every 10 years or so and causes considerable damage.

Most of our famous Easter processions have had to be cancelled, local towns are cut off, trees have blown over, roads are blocked, airports are closed, my neighbours roof has sprung a leak, other friends houses are flooded. But mostly I am fed up being stuck indoors and I am worried about the garden. Cruella (my wife) says I am being selfish but she hasn’t got seedlings to worry about.

20th April. Things I have been doing lately:

🚑 Saving my seedlings. The disaster of the Gota Fria has destroyed my little mini greenhouse where I raise seedlings. I had to rush out in the pouring rain to move them into our Games Room. The first photo below shows my tattered little greenhouse being battered by the storm. The second photo shows the seedlings sitting at the door of the Games Room looking out and contemplating the storm. It’s not ideal but Cruella won’t give up her bedroom which was my first choice.

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🌳 Assessing fallen trees. We have a wild wood garden where we have guest accommodation. So if ever you visit that’s where you will be staying. The wood is mainly Mediterranean Pines which are quite hardy, but unfortunately all that drought then followed by torrential rain has loosened the soil and at least one of the trees has blown over. There may be others but it is not quite safe enough to go down there. I tried to persuade Cruella to go down and have a look, but she selfishly refused. The photo shows the fallen Pine luckily it fell that way and not into the guest accommodation.

💨 Rescuing the potting bench. In addition to the damaged mini greenhouse, the homeless seedlings and the fallen tree, the potting bench plants got battered. When I emerged bravely this morning all of the plants on the potting bench had fallen over, swapped places or were just drowning in excess water. The photo below shows the rearranged cuttings and seedlings. The rain is due to continue for a few days so tomorrow I will stand all the pots on raised wire mesh to ensure they drain as best they can.

💦 Water, water everywhere. The one saving grace is that we have plenty of water. My big water tank and all my large water butts are full to overflowing. Even my emergency system of dustbins and boxes are full up. Hopefully this will last me through till early July. Even the swimming pool has been overflowing and I have had to drain it back twice today already. The first photo below shows some of my new water supplies, whilst the second shows the swimming pool ready to overflow again. I don’t want to worry you but it is pouring again, we may need an Arc!

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Because there are always arrivals and departures. This post covers not only the departures you should be saying goodbye to at this time of year, but also those arrivals you should be welcoming. I know it’s a tortuous stupid riddle, but as a lover of the works of Lewis Carroll I do love puns. Anyway, let’s get on with it, it’s raining and I’m stuck indoors; mind you every water butt and barrel is overflowing so deep inside my heart is singing.

19th April. Things I have been doing lately:

🛌 Putting bulbs to bed. If you have bulbs in pots, then it is time to say goodbye. If you don’t want them for next year then just stick them on the compost heap. If, however, you want to ensure good flowering next year then you have to put them to bed in the right way.

First you need to cut off the seed head, but leave most of the stem and the green leaves. By doing this you are stopping the plant spending energy creating seeds, and when you leave the stems and leaves you are allowing the greenery to funnel back goodness to bulk up the bulb for next year.

Once the leaves and stem have fully died back you can cut them off very close to the surface of the soil. Once the stem and leaves are cut off, scoop down into the pot and remove as much of the old compost as you can safely do without disturbing the bulbs. Then top up with nice fresh compost and leave the pots sitting at the back of your potting bench or somewhere out of the way in your garden. You can conclude by giving them a nice liquid feed, but it is not really necessary. Don’t forget to say goodnight and tell them how much you are looking forward to seeing them next year. It pays to be polite with bulbs.

The photos below show the bulbs at the start of their die back phase and then how the looked at the end. Finally you can see them safely tucked up for the year in their nice new compost.

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👋 Saying goodbye to Iris. My flag Iris come up every year without fail and every two or three years I have to divide them as they are so prolific. They were divided last year, so all I had to do was get them ready for bed. Again, exactly like the bulbs. First cut off the seed head and then leave them for about three weeks. I will come back to the second stage later as I like to tell you about things as I do them so that you can get on with them as well .

The first photo below shows the Iris with their seed heads ready for cutting. The second photo shows them beheaded (off with their heads) I’m channeling Lewis Carroll again!

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🍊 It’s all over for Oranges. I have four Orange trees and all of them fruit prolifically. This means that I am juicing 12-20 oranges every day from December till nearly the end of April. But all good things must come to an end. The trees are now all in full blossom so if there are any Oranges still on your trees pick them now as they will fall off soon anyway.

But if you want good fruit crops next year, then now is the time to feed your trees. You can use either a liquid or granular feed. I start off with a granular feed that will usually last 3-5months (depending on the make), but I also use a liquid feed a bit later on when the young fruit appear just to keep them happy.

The first photo below shows one of my smaller trees nicely in blossom. The second photo shows the granular food that I am using at the moment. The last photo shows the last of the crop waiting to be juiced.

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✂️ Cutting back Jasmine. By now most Jasmine will have had their first flowering and will be looking bedraggled and brown; which reminds me I must tell Cruella (my wife) not to do so much sun bathing. Anyway, you can leave them as they are and just tidy them up a bit by putting on your gardening gloves and raking through the foliage. This will pull out all the brown dead growth and make them look a little better. But if like mine your Jasmine has grown tall and folded over at the top, then it is time for a radical prune.

Using hedge trimmers cut back the face of the plant taking it as close to your trellis as you can without cutting into the stems. When you have done this cut off the top to make it square to the plant and stop it falling over and killing the growth underneath. Lastly trim up the sides to keep the plant in shape and close you your trellis.

The first photo below shows my Jasmine in its dishevelled state. Whilst the second shows it trimmed up and looking a bit better. It will soon green up and flower again later.

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🌼 The arrival of Marigolds. Regular readers of this blog will know that I choose the best seeds from last year’s crop of Marigolds and use them to create this year’s plants. This means that my Marigolds tend to be taller and more spectacular every year. But enough of this boasting.

Plant your Marigolds out when the seedling are 3 to 4 inches high and bushy. This will mean they have good strong roots and will quickly start to grow. The first photo below shows the planting process, from this you can see the plant is healthy with good roots showing. The second photo shows the Marigolds planted into their new home. You will see from this that they are in a mixed bed which should give me colour right through to October through succession planting. The final photo shows the slug and snail repellent that I have to use or else the Marigolds would be in shreds after one night. For some reason fresh young Marigolds are the favourite food of slugs and snails. So, if you done want to set out a banquet for the slimey ones, you need to use repellent.

By the way the mixed bed bed contains the following:

• Marguerite
• Carnations
• Marigold
• Agapanthus
• Kaffir Lily
• Roses
• Iris

And will hopefully be supplemented later by Geum, Verbena and Gaura all of which I am currently trying to grow from seed.

One last thing on Marigolds you always need to keep a few plants as reserves as you can guarantee that despite your best efforts, the slugs and snails will get a few plants. After a couple of weeks your plants will have hardened up and will not be so easy to eat. Then just take your reserves and plant them in pots and dot them around your garden. As. Marigolds are annuals they do not need a large pot filled with compost so what I do is use old plastic pots as a cracking material in the bottom of each pot thereby mitigating the need to fill the whole thing with compost.

The first photo below shows my plastic crocked pots ready for planting. Whilst the second shows the Marigolds planted up ready to do their stuff.

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Yes it is that time of year again when you have a real opportunity to get lots of plants for nothing. Everything is sprouting and sending out luscious green shoots just ripe for you to take some cuttings. So don’t be afraid of taking cuttings, not all of them will take, but, you will get some free plants.

9th April. Things I have been doing lately:

🌸 Dividing Carnations. In my last post I showed you how to take cuttings from Carnations; if you weren’t listening that’s your own fault. Anyway, now I have been dividing one of my carnation plants that has become too rangy and woody in the centre. This is a simple exercise that will rejuvenate the plant. Take a spade and slice directly into the woody centre of the plant. In effect you are halving the plant into two, although with large plants you can quarter them. Once you have the plant divided, place it on your potting bench and discard all the woody areas. You should aim to be left with clumps of caranation with a good bit of root stock attached. Pot the new parts up and leave on the potting bench till about September then replant.

The photos below show the woody original plant, the same plant dismembered on the potting bench and then the final two future plants potted up. (Click on each photo for enlarged view).

✂️ Taking cuttings from climbers. All climbers send out new wispy whip like shoots at this time of year. This is the best time to take new cuttings before any flowers appear and the stems start to go woody. Again the process is simple. Look for long whip like non flowering stems. Cut them off with a sharp knife (never secateurs) just below a growth bud. Place them immediately into a plastic bag this stops them drying out and is especially important if you are spending time taking lots of cuttings. Once you are back at your potting bench prepare a number of four inch pots with good free draining compost. Using your knife make a fresh cut just below a growth node and then dip the stem in growth hormone (not essential, but helpful). Place your cuttings four to a pot around the edge of the pot; this helps them take. Later when they are showing signs of good growth, you can pot them up individually.

The first photo below shows the type of growth you should be looking for to take cuttings. The second photo shows my trusty cuttings equipment: knife, plastic bag, hormone rooting liquid and dibber to make holes. The final photo shows the potted up cuttings, in this case: Solanum, Plumbago and Pink Trumpet Vine. (Click on each photo for enlarged view).

🦠 Planting out Euonymus. I have a number of Euonyium cuttings that have become quite large plants and are now unstable in their pots because they are top heavy. These plants grow well here in Spain and don’t even mind some dappled shade. Because of this I decided to plant them under a large Peruvian False Pepper tree where I already had a couple.

It is difficult digging under trees because of the dry compacted soil. So my normal tactic is to dig a bit then fill the hole with water to let is soften the soil, before starting again. The first photo below shows my early digging efforts.

The next photo shows my newly planted plants, they will love it here.

Now whenever you dig holes like this always save the soil. Top soil, for some reason I have never been able to figure out is impossible to buy in Spain. So if you get any soil save it for future use. I have made a mesh frame which fits over my wheel barrow and I use this to “raddle and sift” soil to get rid of old roots and stones. The end product is then stored in old compost sacks till I need it; and I always do. The first photo below shows my mesh raddler invention (patent pending). The second photo shows the end product ready to be bagged up.

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👍 Growing those thumbnails. All good gardeners should grow their thumbnails long at this time of the year. If you have nice long thumbnails, then as you wander round the growing garden you always have your secateurs at hand at the end of your thumb to pinch off and dead head plants. Simples! The photo below shows my aged old gardeners thumb, together with that of Cruella (my wife). In case you can’t tell the difference mine is the one that is not tipped with real blood.

No not Nero the Roman Emperor who burned Rome down whilst fiddling, but Nero one of our Labradors who has a penchant for similar levels of destruction without the musical accompaniment. I wouldn’t mind but I had just dealt with his previous mining activity only a few day before. My lawn is beginning to look like the 4,o00 holes in Blackburn Lancashire mentioned by the Beatles.

All of this hole filling is taking me away from the excitement of getting Spring going in the garden. But never mind here we go, let’s get gardening.

4th April – Things I have been doing lately:

🐶 Repairing the lawn. Because of Nero’s particular habit of mining my lawn I have to repair the grass in such a way that he cannot go back to the same spot. To achieve this I use a fine mesh wire laid over the repaired spot. Firstly, I fill the hole with a mixture of 2/3rds top soil and one third compost. The hole is slightly overfilled and then rolled or trodden down till it is level. Secondly, I sow a particularly hardy type of gramma seed that is suitable for our hot climate here in Spain. This also has the advantage of being coated with a bird repellent. Thirdly, I peg down my wire mesh protective cover to stop him re-digging in the future. Finally, I cover the whole thing with a protective fleece to provide the new seed with a good environment and just in case the bird repellent doesn’t work. After all this I water and make sure the seed never fully dries out. The photos below show the process (click on each photo for a larger image).

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🌱 Sowing late Autumn perennial seeds. Every year I swear that I will sow seeds of late Autumn perennials so that I can fill the gaps in my borders left by Marigolds and Marguerites. But every year I get swept up in Summer gardening and forget. By the time the gaps appear it is too late and I am left cursing big unsightly gaps in my borders. Now you may say, “why not just go out and buy a few plants”. But for me that wouldn’t be gardening, that’s shopping, and if you don’t know the difference, stop reading now. The real joy of gardening is growing things from seeds or cuttings. Occasionally you may have to buy the odd plant to get access to cuttings etc, but I have neighbours and friends who purchase a new garden full of plants every Summer.

If you would like an enjoyable and cost effective way to garden then try growing some seeds. It is fun and even if things go wrong a pack containing 100’s of seeds cost a fraction of what a mature plant will. I am planting three late Autumn perennials: Gaura Lindheimeri, Geum Blazing Sunset and Verbena. The photos below show me about scatter the seeds on to a mixture of compost with added Perlite. The final photo shows them getting acclimatised in our Games Room as I have no space in my little mini greenhouse. (click on each photo for a larger image).

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✂️ Taking cuttings from Carnations. Carnations love the sun of Spain and can grow in really hot full sun. But after a while they can get woody and the centre dies back. Now you can deal with this in one of two ways. Using two spades you can half or even quarter the plant, pull out the dead parts and plant each part back and with a bit of luck you will have nice new plants. The other way is to take cuttings. But with Carnations you don’t actually cut. Look for strong non-flowering stems and then just pull the end off whilst holding the main stem.

After gathering a few fresh stem ends, strip back the bottom leaves, dip into hormone powder (don’t worry if you haven’t got any) and then plant 4 or so close to the edge of a four inch pot. Keep this in the shade for 2/3 days so the cuttings get acclimatised and to stop them drying out in the sun. After this treat them like a normal cutting. What’s not to like free plants. The photos below show the process and end with happy little cuttings bedding down they will be ready to plant out in September. (click on each photo for a larger image).

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🍊 Stripping suckers off Orange trees. By now your Citrus trees should be in blossom, so if you haven’t pruned them this year, don’t do it now if you want fruit next year. But what you can do is strip off suckers from the trunk and lower branches of your tree. Suckers are those fresh (very green looking) little mini branches that spring out of the bark. Most old trees will “sucker” as they try to open up new routes for sap. The problem with suckers is that they take the energy away from the tree in unproductive areas. You want all the goodness to go into the fruiting branches so suckers have to go.

It is easy to get rid of suckers in the early stages before they get “woody” just don your gardening gloves and pull each sucker straight down; it will come away easily in your hand. If you leave them you will need to use seccateurs. The photo below shows me actively “suckering”.

🧙‍♀️ Cruella’s good works. People some times ask me what Cruella (my wife) does during the Summer months when she cannot go out during the day without turning into a pile of ash when hit by sunlight. Well the answer is good works. But let me explain, she doesn’t actually do good works I have to fool her into thinking that she is doing something to further the cause of Witchcraft; her real interest.

Anyway at the moment we have a campaign to buy Easter Eggs for the children of Orihuela Orphanage, and are asking local people to donate chocolate eggs. We have been very successful and almost have the 80 eggs we need. In addition our local Pub (the Rusty Nail) has been collecting funds for us and raised a magnificent sum to support the Church and get the orphans those extra eggs. To involve Cruella and keep her out of the Sun I have made her Treasurer and she has to count the money. I couldn’t mention the orphans of course so I told her it was to buy broomsticks for needy witches in Africa.

The photo below shows Cruella happily counting the “broomstick” fund. She was so pleased to be involved that she even bought her own Security t-shirt.

Because of the heading above I bet you thought you had clicked on one of those New Age blogs that are full of philosophical adages and instructions on how to live a more meaningful life. Well you certainly hit the wrong button there, it’s just plain old gardening stuff, but I am trying to make the whole thing more edgy; I’m going for a Scandi noire type thing, what do you think? Anyway enough of my literary pretensions, let’s talk real life and death in the garden: deadheading, cuttings and seedlings. There I go again that could easily be a name for a firm of lawyers in my next book.

22nd April: Things I have been doing lately.

Deadheading Irises. By now most of your Irises and other bulbs will have died back and it is time to deadhead them and get them ready for next year. The first photo below shows one of my stands of Irises that has finished blooming and need to be prepared for bed. The key thing with all bulbs is to let them die back naturally by leaving the foliage on as long as possible to allow this to transfer all the goodness of the Sun back down into the bulb. But first you must cut off the seed head. If you don’t do this then the plant will put all its effort into producing seed and the bulb will suffer and probably not flower next year. The simplest way to do this is just cut the whole seed head off; making sure you get it all, but still leave plenty of foliage for the plant. The second photo below shows the newly deadheaded Irises neatly cut and tied back so that they don’t flop on to the litttle Carnation sitting in the bed beside them.

Before we leave Iris, you will no doubt remember that last year I has some spare Iris bulbs and decided to plant them in a corner of my lawn that was a bit scrawny. Well look at the photo below, haven’t they done well, and there will be lots more next year.

Keep taking cuttings. I know I have mentioned it lately, but keep taking cuttings. This is the time of year when most plants are thrusting out fresh, new, strong shoots. In most cases a lot of the cuttings will not take, but you should get a 50/50 ratio of dead to live. And remember every live cuttings is a free plant for you, or your friends. I am taking cuttings from: Solanum, Jasmine, Plumbago and Bignonia. If you don’t know which are best parts to take a cutting from, then look at the photo below of my Solanum. The wispy shoots sticking out at the side are crying out “cut me I’m ready to become my own plant”; that is what I hear anyway! This plant was itself a cutting from my friend Margarita, eventually planted out in February and it is now fifteen foot high.

Pricking out seedlings. Those of you who are paying attention – and this means you – will remember that a month or so ago I sowed seeds of Marigold, Butternut Squash and a few other things in my little mini greenhouse. As the photo below shows, well here we are just a few weeks later and we are ready to prick out and plant up.

To prick out seedlings I use a pencil to ease them out of their initial seed tray. It is very important that when handling seedlings you always hold them by the leaves and never by the stem. If you hold the stem and damage it then the plant will die; and new stems are very delicate. It is a bit like me taking you by the hand or by the throat, which would you prefer?

The photo below shows my workings half way through pricking out the Marigolds. You can see the tools needed: pencil to lift out, dibber to make holes for the new seedlings (planted 12 to a half seed tray) and a square tamper to even off the compost before planting.

The photos below show the Butternut Squash being pricked out. Here, the technique is different, as is the equipment you will need. Yes, the trusty pencil is still there, but instead of seed trays I am using individual Coir pots that are bio degradable which means I will be able to plant the whole pot into the ground in a couple of weeks without disturbing and potentially damaging the roots. They have been planted individually into long case seed tray. This allows for the development of a much bigger and better root stock that this size plant demands. By growing in this type of seed tray you get much better root development as seen in the second photo below. The final photo shows the Butternut Squash all potted up ready to go into the ground in about two weeks.

Planting out Marigolds. It was only a few paragraphs ago we were pricking out Marigolds, and here we are planting them out!  Marigolds are the ideal flower for Spain, they grow quickly from seed, they love full Sun, and, if deadheaded will flower for most of the Summer. The photo below shows me ready to get planting. All you need is a trowel, a kneeler  (if you are old – like me)  and some irrigation points ready to place near where the plants are. I use the red headed screw ones which you can see in a lot of my photos.The benefit of these is that they can be turned off completely and new ones added where the plants are now this year.

Once the plants are safely in the soil then water copiously as this will give them a good start. Then whether you like it or not you have to add slug pellets around each plant. I use the bird friendly type before you ask. If you don’t do this then all you are doing is providing salad for slugs and snails. The first photo below show the Marigolds surrounded by their ring of protective slug pellets. The second photo shows the Marigold plants after one night of snail siege. Click on this photo to enlarge and you will see the dozens of dead snails around each plant. All it takes is one snail to get through and you don’t have a plant, you have a “stalk”.

The final photo shows some of the Marigolds safely in their beds with cross canes placed over them to protect against that other great gardening pest, The great marauding Labrador.

 

 

I intended the above heading to sound philosophical and deep, but on reading it again it could be misconstrued as a lonely person with unhygienic toilet habits. Anyway, on with the show, Cruella my wife is away in England visiting our son and I have been making the proverbial hay whilst the sun shines. This not only means 24 hour gardening, but also being able to purchase various gardening accoutrements (good word eh!), without having to sneak them into the shed under cover of darkness. I can also go shopping in my gardening clothes, which is normally frowned upon; mind you I have been thrown out of two shops and people keep giving me money to buy food.

16th April, Things I have been doing lately

🍴Feeding plants: My starting heading was meant to highlight the fact that plants need more then just being stuck in the soil. A key ingredient this time of the year is to start feeding to ensure that all your plants get a boost ready for Summer. Now you can feed a general purpose feed for everything and I won’t report you to the authorities for neglect. However, it is better to use specialised feeds that target the particular needs of individual plants. Just as you prefer different types of food, so do plants. The photo below shows the main types of feed that I use in my garden, there are others – such as iron – but the main ones are shown in the photo.

All of these plant foods are readily available in Spain and one bottle of each should last you most of the Summer. From the left:

1. A granulated universal feed that should be sprinkled through borders and under trees. You must water this in, but it should last about three months. I use this just as a starter background feed, but still use others.

2. Again a general feed, but more intense. This Guano (bird poo) feed is a bit more expensive than the normal general liquid feed, and doesn’t make up such large quantities. Feed this once a week to border plants.

3. This is a specialist fruit feed.  I use it for Figs, Persimmons, Olives, Pomegranates and Butter nut squash. Again feed once a week at the hight of the summer.

4. This is a specialist citrus feed. Don’t be tempted to feed a general food to Citrus as it won’t do much good. I use this for Oranges and Lemons. Feed it from now through to about September.

5. The last one isn’t really a feed, but is an essential part of any new bare root plantings; especially Roses etc. Mycorrhizal Fungi should be applied to wet roots and sprinkled in the planting hole, it helps the plant to get established very quickly.

There you have it, get feeding and your plants will love you.

⚱️ Renewing compost in pots: If you have plants in pots, and who doesn’t, then this is the time of year to refresh their compost. Whilst succulents and cactus will happily sit in the same soil for years, everything else needs replenishing every year if you want them to give of their best. Don’t worry I am not asking you to redo the whole pot. In most cases this would be impossible because of the root ball, but try and replace the top three or four inches of compost.

The first photo below shows how I have removed the top portion of compost in one of my pots to expose the root ball. You must be careful not to damage too many of the fine feeding roots , just expose as much as you can without causing damage (if only Arnold Weinstein had heeded my counsel).

The second photo shows where I have applied a general feed directly around the roots. This will need to be watered in, but only when you have covered the roots with nice new compost.

The final photo shows my standards all ready for Summer with new compost and plenty of food.

🚰 Adjusting and checking irrigation: Dont assume that your irrigation systems will function as they have been all Winter. There are a number of problems you have to take account of. Firstly, here in Spain as the population rises in the summer with holiday makers, so the water pressure gets reduced as there are more households to supply. This means that your irrigation settings will have to be adjusted to take this into account, either by opening individual irrigation points a bit more to let more through, or setting your timer for longer to take into account the reduction in pressure. Lastly, you should run your irrigation system now just to check that there are no individual points blocked up with soil or leaves.

I have eleven individual irrigation systems throughout the garden; they provide hours of fun just with adjustments and seasonal alterations. The photos below show just a few of the various configurations. And Cruella thinks I’m not interesting, any woman would be lucky to have me.

 

In this age of bullying I don’t want to add to anyone’s problems or perceived inequities; nor do I want to be the cause of a gardener’s “me to” campaign, but we have to get on, there is so much gardening to do before summer. I have told you all before, March and April are the foundation months for the garden year, get them right and your garden will be lovely, get a bit behind (like me) and you will always have the same problem as the Red Queen in “Through the Looking Glass” (I trust to the literary knowledge of my readers).

6th April: Things I have been doing lately.

🌿 Never give a sucker an even break.

I am conscious I have used the above double entendre before, but I just love it, so expect it as an annual event. By now you should have picked all the fruit off your orange trees, lemons can be left a while yet. The trees themselves should be in blossom, so it is time to do a little bit of preparation. In total we have 9 fruit trees – a mixture of orange, lemon, persimmon, fig and pomegranate. See the photo below for a view of what I grandly call the orchard and my wife Cruella calls “some trees”.

The first thing you need to do is go around all your trees and pull of suckers that will be growing from the bottom of the tree or along lower branches. These can be identified by the fact that they are usually bright green and growing straight up from the branch. The easiest way to take these off is just to pull downward on each one with your gardening gloves on and it should come away very easily. If you don’t do this, then the suckers will quite quickly gain brown wood and be more difficult to remove. If the suckers are left they will take the goodness from the tree and ensure you get a much lower crop of fruit. The photo below shows some suckers on an orange tree.

🖼 Cutting the lawn

Hooray lawn cutting time has come around again. You should be doing your first cut anytime now. The grass will soon start to grow strongly, so make sure you get the first cut in before it gets away from you. The first cut should always be high, just enough to take off the ends of the longest bits of grass and even everything up. The mown grass should be placed on your compost heap and interspersed with wooden and carbon rich cuttings. Don’t worry if you are not keeping up we will have the delights of a “compost special” post in a few weeks time – such fun. The photo below shows the newly mown lawn.

💊 Feeding the lawn

After the first cut it is time to give your lawn its first feed. Although the grass has not yet got into full growth, it will be weakened after the Winter, and this first feed will urge it into a growth spurt. I use a feed that contains all the main ingredients that plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This gives the grass a great boost though it may cause your lawn to fail an Olympic drugs test. The best way to apply this feed to a largish area is by using a feed spreader. This gives a nice even distribution of the feed across the lawn and stops you putting too much in any one area thereby causing grass scorching. If you are broadcasting by hand then use much less than you think you need; there is a danger in overestimating and ending up with burnt patches all across your lawn. Nine times out of ten the scorching will grow back, but sometimes it doesn’t resulting in lots of reseeding. The photo below shows my lawn feeding equipment ready to go.

✂️ Taking cuttings

Now is the time to start taking cuttings from plants. Most plants will be showing signs of that lovely new growth, will not yet have flowered and are ripe for cuttings. By taking cuttings now you can get them established before the heat of summer though you may have to use a cold frame or a mini greenhouse to keep them warm at night.

Over the next few weeks I intend to take lots of cuttings, but I have started with Carnations. I bought one carnation plant about 5 years ago and ever since then have propagated it by cuttings. To take cuttings from Carnations you don’t actually “cut”. Instead, you gently tug on a non flowering healthy stem and eventually the stem will come apart leaving you with a short stem in your hand. Peel off all the bottom leaves so that you just have two or three left at the top. Then using a knife (never secateurs as these will crush the stem) create a fresh cut in the stem and dip the bottom of the stem in hormone rooting liquid or powder; this last bit is not absolutely necessary, but it helps. Then either place all the cuttings around the edge of a four inch pot, or, as I have done in this case place each cutting singly into a small pot.

The photos below show the key stages of taking Carnation cuttings. First the stems pulled off from the mother plant, then the stems stripped of their lower leaves, cut and dipped in hormone liquid. Finally, the cuttings in the new dinky little pots and later place in a mini greenhouse.

 

Our skiing exploits in Austria at the behest of our son has meant that I have been away from the garden for almost two weeks at the most important time of the year. March and early April is the time when you lay down the foundations for summer so I have had a lost of catching up to do. Just to get the skiing thing out of the way no I didn’t break any bones, no I still can’t ski, both Cruella (my wife) and I were great disappointments to our son as neither of us could stand up, stop, or otherwise show any competence in skiing. To be honest we gave up halfway through our second lesson and contented ourselves with Apres Ski. The photo below shows our son James giving us his disappointed look.

2nd April: Things I have been doing lately

Right back to gardening. There is so much to tell you and so little time before the heat of summer, so we just better get on with it.

🌱 Planting seeds for annual bedding plants.

In terms of planting seeds I am probably almost a month behind where I should be. As we were going away there was no point leaving the seedlings first few important days with our house sitters; especially as our house sitter was our friend Karl the notorious plant murderer.

Anyway, you can buy bedding plants from Garden Centres etc, but real gardeners grow their own. I grow Marigolds as they are very easy to get going and they make fantastic mid-summer bed fillers. I also grow Pink Trumpet Vine and a few other favourites just to plug areas of the garden that may die back in summer. All seeds should be planted in a free draining compost with copious quantities of vermiculite to allow for that nice free drainage. In Spain you do not need a greenhouse to get seeds going a small 3 shelf mini greenhouse is fine, just make sure you open it up in the morning or your seedlings will fry, even at this time of the year.

The first photo below shows my seed planting equipment which is very simple: compost, vermiculite, seed trays, dibber and dust pan and brush for cleaning up the mess I always make. The second photo shows the seedlings happily settling in to their new home.

🌹 Weeding, feeding, watering and mulching Roses.

This is one of my least favourite gardening jobs, (I have 26 Roses of various types) but one that must be carried out if you want lovely healthy Roses. I dislike this job as the Roses take great pleasure in scratching, cutting and otherwise hacking at my flesh till I bleed profusely; at the end of this exercise I look like someone who has been feasted upon by Vampires.

Roses are very hungry feeders and require good healthy organic compost to see them through the summertime. This is where all your hard work at creating compost in your bins and heaps comes into play; if you don’t compost then I’m afraid I’m not speaking to you and you should be ashamed. The photo below shows one of my compost bins ready to spill forth its wonderful richness to enhance the garden.

Unfortunately, a full and active compost bin means the return of that old favourite the giant blood oozing maggots that feature so regularly in this blog. I think these come from a fly that must lay the eggs onto the grass and then I transfer the eggs with the grass cuttings to the compost bin. No matter, you cannot allow them back out into your garden so as you empty out the bin you must pick out the maggots and see if they can swim in a trug – none have managed it so far – then recycle them back into the active compost bin. The photo below shows some of the giant blood oozing maggots before their swim.

The process of preparing your Roses is simple. First you must assemble all of the things you need before starting this process, the photo below shows everything you need: compost, feed, water. The reason for this is that you must do this one Rose at a time to ensure you don’t let them dry out between each stage. The three photos below show each of the stages: weeding, feeding and mulching. Only 25 more to go.

🔆 Mulching borders.

Mulching borders and bedding plants is just as important as Roses. In the heat of the Summer most bedding plants will wilt quite badly and in some cases just get overheated and die especially if the your irrigation system fails. This is where mulching comes in. Water each of your bedding plants thoroughly, then, put a donut of mulch around each plant. The mulch will lock in the water and stop the plant drying out in the sun. Also, the mulch will buy you precious time if your irrigation fails and ensure that you do not lose plants. The photo below shows some of my border plants sporting their new donut of mulch. The space between each plant has been left mulch free as this is where I will be planting out my Marigold seedlings; which will be munched at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s raining which is unusual in Spain hence the heading above reflects my activity in the garden today – it’s a bit like the Twilight Zone but without the spooky music.

28th April: Things I have been doing in the garden today.

🐕 Labradors grazing on Mulberries: OK let’s get it out the way; I knew if I introduced those dogs to my gardening blog they would just upstage me and the plants. The picture below shows Nero (black) and Tango (golden) grazing on Mulberries under our large Mulberry tree. Both dogs look forward to Mulberry time and assiduously harvest all the berries that the birds knock down. All that I get out of it is the pleasure of picking up red dog pooh!

👍 Why gardeners should grow their thumbnails long: I am an exponent of gardeners growing their thumbnails long between between the months of March and September. When people notice this my wife tells them I am part of an Eastern religion a bit like the Hari Krishnas only with more hair and without the dancing bit. The real answer is you should grow your thumbnails long at this time of the year because they provide you with the perfect set of secateurs without having to go to the shed every time you see something that needs trimming or deadheading. Just trim things up by catching them between your thumb and fore finger.

🕷 Take cuttings from Spiderwort: Spiderwort is a lovely colourful Naya or veranda plant that I would never be without. It’s trailing stems and leaves hang over the edge of pots and give character to any sitting area. And the fact they are happy in semi shade makes them ideal for this situation. (See picture below).

To take cuttings from Spiderwort, just take one of the stems trailing over the pot, cut it with a sharp knife just below a leaf node (remember never secateurs or you will crush the stem) using your thumbnail (I had to get this in) pinch out all the leaves on the stem to just leave the top two. Dip the stem in hormone rooting liquid – don’t worry if you don’t have this it will still be OK. Then use your dibber to make a small hole in the compost of a 4 inch pot and stick it in. It is as easy as that.

🌿 Tying in Jasmine: I know this sound like something from Fifty Shades of Grey but I promise you it is more innocent. If you have Jasmine, and we all love the smell, then it will by now be growing in tendrils longer than the snakes on Medusa’s head. Now is the ideal time to train them to where you want them to go rather than letting them boss you around. The picture below shows some Jasmine that I am just about to train over a gate arch. Ideally you should leave the tendrils till they’re long and whippy (I have invented a new gardening term – oh no! It’s Fifty Shades again). This is the ideal state for bending and weaving them. If you leave it much longer they become woody and snap when you try to bend them. Once you have finished bending and shaping them, cut off any growth that is growing straight up or down from the stems and this will give you a nice clean line and shape.

 

I have to confess that I’ve been practising hair dressing on Marguerites and they are not impressed. I’ve also neglected some grape vines to the extent that if the Spanish Society for the Protection of Grape Vines found out, they would be taken into care.

25th April: Things I have been doing today.

💐 Cutting back Marguerite Daisies: Marguerites are the harbinger of Spanish Spring and the first welcome sign that the warm weather is on its way. However, all good things come to an end, and it is time to cut them back. Now there are two schools of thoughts on Marguerite trimming. One favours cutting back each of the individual flowers on the plant as they die, and as you know there are hundreds. The benefit of this approach is that the plant always looks tidy and you exercise your lower back muscles bending over with your scissors every day. The other school of thought, of which I am an arch exponent involves leaving the plant to flower right the way through so you end up with a plant that has both dead and new flowers at the same time. Eventually when you have a ratio of roughly 75% dead flowers to 25% live, then is the time to cut back (see photo). The benefit of this approach is that you are not interfering with the plant all the time. You give it a nice haircut all at once (but make sure you cut only the green do not cut into brown wood). The added bonus is that come late summer if you look underneath the plant you will see lots of young Marguerite seedlings happily growing away ready for you to transplant. Now, if you had followed the silly way of cutting back the flowers everyday, you would have had a nice tidy plant and a bad back, but you would probably be buying new Marguerites next year rather than getting them free.

💐 Taking care of neglected grapes: About three years ago my neighbour gave me some twig cuttings from his grapevine. Which I duly planted straight into the ground beside our swimming pool. The idea was that when we play table tennis in the pool area, we are so bad at the game that the ball constantly flies through the balustrades and someone then has to walk out and get the ball usually in bare feet over stones, which is painful.

I confess to neglecting these vines, mainly for the respectable horticultural reason that I have not played table tennis lately. But those days are gone, I intend to have a renewed interest in the game this summer, and to this end those grapevines have been spoiled. Grape vines can be planted in poor soil and really do not need much water apart from in a drought. They can be fed occasionally but never manured, and they will respond with good leaf and you can have grapes from year three. It is also important to tie them in otherwise they will flop. The photo below shows the vines in their new found vigour after my renewed self interest. I have taken a wire along the balustrades between the two plants with the intention of creating a cordon between them. This is a win win all round, the plants get fed and supported whilst my feet get saved from being lacerated by stones. By the way it is mainly my wife who knocks the ball out – I’m really quite good!

One moment I was happily mowing the lawn wandering up and down in a zen like trance when suddenly my happiness was taken from me.

24th April: Things I have been doing today. 

🌺 Lawn maintenance: By now your lawn should be growing fast and all that growth needs taking care of. You should be watering regularly (at least every third night). Apply another granulated feed now and make sure you water this in. Then of course you mow regularly, set your blades to a medium height to ensure you don’t let the lawn scorch. Then you can blissfully wander up and down in a zen like state of happiness; lawn mowing is like motorcycling only less dangerous and you don’t have to wear leathers. After I had finished mowing the lawn I sat on the tree seat under our Mulberry tree and took the picture below looking through the roses across the lawn in a perfect state of happiness. By chance I glanced to my left and saw a terrible sight that made my blood run cold, my cry of anguish I am reliably told was heard in the Canary Islands – it was only bloody Sawfly caterpillars – and with all due respect to Milton, my own paradise was lost!

🌺 Dealing with Rose pests: Sawfly are a deadly pest that specialise in eating roses; and they do it quickly. The adult female saws into a rose branch, lays her eggs and then when they hatch into caterpillars they eat in a pack and treat your roses like a Wok Buffet on an all you can eat night, see picture below. From the time they hatch in a morning they can easily strip a rose branch. Now the interesting thing about Sawfly caterpillars is that the eggs are laid right at the top of a branch and then the caterpillars eat their way down to the soil then pupate in the soil ready to breed next year’s devil spawn. They are built in such a way they can only climb down and never back up again’ when I first encountered them two years ago I would just pick them off me throw them away, safe in the knowledge that they could not climb up again. But sadly I was throwing them down to where they wanted to be and they happily pupated in the soil ably assisted by me; I was a sort of Sawfly taxi service home after a good meal. Last year I changed tactic and picked off every caterpillar and destroyed them humanely – yeah right! – they got what they deserved.

Now they are back I will spend every morning for the next few weeks inspecting each rose branch – with my glasses on – that’s how serious it is. The problem with Sawfly is they have perfected the trick of hatching at different times so that predators cannot take out a whole generation, so you have to be vigilant over a two to three week period. I am thinking of camping out overnight by the roses – my wife thinks I’m an idiot, but she just doesn’t understand that this time it’s personal.

This sort of heading appeals both to lovers of horror films and bleeding heart liberals both key target groups for this blog.

21st April: Things I have been doing today.

🥀 Fending off snails: If you are an avid and attentive follower of this blog – which all good gardeners are; and I count you as one of course! Then you will remember that I planted out Marigold seedlings the other day with a Nostradamus like prediction that as soon as they were planted all the slugs and snails in the vicinity would arrive to feast within 24 hours. I advised, again with amazing prescience, that if you surrounded your seedlings with slug pellets then all would be well. The photo (below) shows a slug tsunami battered against the wall of pellets surrounding a poor little seedling. There is a wailing and rending of garments in many snail households tonight; but the seedlings sleep safely.

🥀 Homeless bulbs: About five years ago I bought 4 Flag Iris bulbs. Over the years I have cultivated and encouraged their procreation, and in a Malthusian nightmare I now have over a hundred. Unfortunately, I have to relocate some, because I am putting in some new plants; and like a rogue landlord I am evicting them. However, all is not lost I am relocating them to the equivalent of a new town, but that comes later. First, I have to ensure that they survive. To achieve this I cut them down about a week ago ( I should have left them longer, but the new plant offered a higher rent). Anyway, to ensure their survival you need to dig them up and leave some of the stem foliage intact. Brush off any loose soil and then place the bulbs in a shaded dry area (never in the sun). Your garden shed is ideal, but only if you have a high shelf or mice will eat them quicker than you can say mouse trap. I would have used my shed but it is too full of other stuff, so the photo shows them stored in our utility room – I told my wife they are onions! Leave them to dry for a few weeks then cut off the stems and any old roots then store them or plant them – we will come back to this.

That got your attention! But to be honest this posting doesn’t involve precious stones or adults being tied up. But it does involve roses and the end of flag irises.

17th April: Things I have been doing today.

🌹 Taking care of roses: If you think you can’t grow roses in Spain then think again. Given the correct start in life and proper care and attention then they will prosper like a rich boy at Eton. You will see in the photo above two beds of Roses I planted as bare root just under two years ago; and look at them now! Garden jewels. If you want roses, tough you can’t have them. Well, you can but just not now you will have to be patient and wait until the Autumn, then you can buy some lovely David Austin old English roses and have them delivered by post. Don’t be tempted by the many potted roses you may see, if you plant them they will not prosper in our heat, but you could plant them in October; but by then you might as well wait for bare roots.

But if you have roses you should be in full swing maintaining them at their best. You will need to deadhead every day, in my case the yellow rose in the photo “Blythe Spirit” needs deadheading twice a day. You will need to feed every week with liquid feed; or twice a year with slow release granulated (February and June). You must have irrigation in place as roses are very thirsty. Even with irrigation they benefit from a good soaking one evening a week.

🌹 The end of flag irises: Well not quite the end. All the flag irises in my garden have been deadheaded a couple of weeks ago to ensure they did not waste their strength on seed. I have left the foliage on to allow it to transfer all the suns energy down into the bulbs ready for next year. However, I cannot stand to have all that yellowing unkempt foliage hanging around for weeks like some forlorn summer visitor. So the answer is some quick garden bondage! Bend the tops of each foliage clump in two and then using an elastic band or twine tie the foliage in place. This keeps them neat and tidy and allows them to do their work without getting in the way (see photo). Where do you get those colourful elastic bands I can hear you asking. Well I have to confess that I steal them from the kitchen drawer where my wife stores them after removing them from vegetables she has bought from the supermarket. Now and again she asks where all the elastic bands have gone and I accuse mice. She now has the vision of a large band of rogue mice creating a huge elastic ball somewhere inside our walls; it’s the stuff of nightmares.

Spanish gardens are full of succulents, agaves and cacti. So this time of the year save yourself money and create new plants from old. I have been taking cuttings to sell at our annual “Open Garden Day” which is in aid of Campoverde Church.

16th April: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Take cuttings of succulents. I have been taking cuttings from a range of plants today.

Aloe Vera; one of the many Aloes and one that has long been a standard music hall joke because of its name. These plants send under ground runners that hit the surface in small clusters. Use your trowel to lift a cluster then separate individual plants. Half fill a four inch pot with compost, then stand the plant in the middle and back fill around it with the compost then tamp down. This method allows you to avoid getting compost all over the leaves and lets you get your fingers down the side to tamp down.

Spider Plant; these are a standard in every British bathroom where they can normally be found covered with dust and dead flies. However in Spain they look lovely in your garden and are very prolific. The plants sends out miniature plants at the end of long shoots, given a chance these will root when they hit the ground. All you have to do is cut off the long shoots, then trim them off to leave the baby spiders. Fill a four inch pot to the top with compost and thoroughly soak it. Then with your dibber or a pencil if you are dibberless; make a shallow indent about quarter inch deep and push your mini spider into the compost – root side down of course. This process mimics what the plant will try to do naturally and should be successful.

Aeonium: I know this sounds like a German wind instrument, but it is a lovely succulent. Cut stems from the main plant with a sharp knife. Dip in hormone rooting liquid if you have it; don’t worry if you don’t it will probably work anyway. Fill a four inch pot with compost and water well. With your dibber make a deep central hole in the compost, push the plant well down and firm the compost around it.

Money Plant: Same process as the Aeonium, but you need to strip all the leaves off the stem leaving only four at the top. Unfortunately the name of the plant does not guarantee wealth otherwise I would be worth millions.

 

 

Well that’s what it seems like when you plant Marigold seedlings. Unless you protect them slugs and snails will happily make their way towards your precious seedlings, over a 24/48 hour period and feast on them leaving you only some unattractive slimed stalks.

15th April: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Plant out Marigold seedlings: if you look back over old postings you will see that I planted a range of seeds on March 2nd. Some of these have already been planted out including Butternut Squash and Melons, but now it is the turn of the Marigolds. If you have not grown Marigolds before you are now too late, but next year give them a go. Marigolds are so “easy” they are literally plant trollops.

Because of the high temperatures at this time of year you have to make sure that your seedlings get off to a good start. First with your trowel dig a small hole about four inches deep. Fill this with water and let it drain into the soil. In advance you should have mixed some compost from your compost heap together with some shop bought compost to produce a loamy rich compost. Place about and inch of this into the bottom of your planting hole and then place the seedling on top of this fill in the remainder of the hole with the compost and mix a little soil that you dug from the hole. When this is complete water well. Marigolds like water so be sure to build them around your irrigation system. I tend to plant three or four marigolds around an irrigation point. (See photo).

Lastly, and this is the most important, today I have planted 60 Marigolds and I do not want to see my labour wasted. In our garden I protect Marigolds from two types of pests. The first is great gallumping Labradors who happily tear off across flower beds at the first hint of  strangers passing our house. To stop them I place cross canes over each group of  Marigolds. In the past I have tied string between each group of canes, but gave up when one or both of my dogs would leap around the garden wrapped up in canes and twine like dog Houdinis performing a trick badly.

The second and greatest pests are slugs and snails. Marigolds are like heroin to a junkie to snails. They just cannot get enough of them and will travel long distances to be at the feast. When you first plant your seedlings out, nothing tends to happen for 24 hours. This gives you a false sense of security. But in fact they are all making their way towards the feast you have provided. Unless you protect your seedlings within 48 hours every one will be eaten. The best and simplest way is slug pellets; sprinkle them around each plant and within 48 hours you will have massacred all potential feasters and ruined their party.

 

 

 

I don’t want to get too sentimental about this, but it is time to put your bulbs to bed so they will be nice and fresh ready for next spring.

14th April: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Preparing bulbs: It is always a good idea to plant up pots with bulbs so that they can provide early colour on your veranda or naya. The benefit of doing this is that it provides you with portable colour that you can move around to your various sitting areas. But when they are finished flowering they can look unsightly. When this happens they have to go. Now normally bulbs planted in the ground can be left to die back naturally (more of this later in the month). But, bulbs in pots need to be handled differently. First deadhead them as soon as they stop flowering, so they don’t waste energy. Then leave them as long as you can stand it with them looking all yellows and upset. I confess that I don’t leave it very long, (See photo). Then cut the foliage back level with the soil of your pot. Water them well and cover with about half an inch of sieved compost (no lumps). Then put the pots away in an out of the way shady area of your garden and leave them, (See photo). It is important to be polite to your plants if you want the best from them – so say goodnight and promise to see them next year; God willing.

🌻  Bring on the replacements: Normally I do have replacement plants lined up that I have grown from seed or cuttings, but in this case I wanted two geraniums, but unfortunately all of ours were destroyed last year by the dreaded geranium moth; it is almost not worth growing geraniums anymore in Spain because of the moth. Anyway, I confess to buying two plants (see photo). But I promise to make amends by ensuring that I take lots of cuttings from these two once they are established. I will keep you up to date with progress.

🌻 General feeding: This may sound like a large dinner party, but it is not what I intended. This time of year, when everything is really getting going, it is worth wandering around and generally spreading some general purpose granulated feed across all your beds. I use the pelleted blue stuff that you can get anywhere. Scatter this thinly, and definitely not in clumps near plant stems. These feeds are rich in nitrogen and can shock plants if they get too much. It is a bit like us having too many Easter eggs; we love them but it is not good for us.

I bet you never thought you would hear such a call to action. But now that everything is growing, it needs cutting back, and what do you do with all those cuttings, you compost them of course.

11th April: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 You need to build a compost heap. Almost the first thing I did when we moved to this house was have a builder come in and construct me a twin bin compost heap (see photo). However you need not go to this expense, just start a pile somewhere out of the way in your garden. You need four things for a successful compost heap: air, water, nitrogen and carbon. Air is everywhere that is the easy one. Water is important because you have to keep the compost moist (not soaked). Nitrogen is all the green stuff you put on the heap all your grass cuttings, waste vegetables, plant cuttings and the labours of your deadheading. Carbon is the brown stuff (no pun intended) bits of wood, brown vegetables like Corn on the cob, old newspapers, napkins old packaging. If you do not have carbon then your compost will turn to green slime and smell awful.

If possible add the green stuff (nitrogen) and the brown stuff (carbon) in layers so that they stop one element dominating. Water occasionally to keep it moist and if possible cover the heap either by using a compost bin, or just throw an old bit of carpet over the top, this will help stop it drying out. Once you have got one heap going build it up for about six months then start your next. The idea of two heaps or bins is that one will be ready to use in six months to a year (depending on circumstances), whilst the other takes all the new stuff. It helps if you can turn the heap over every three months or so, but don’t worry if that’s too much, just make sure you start using the compost from the bottom of the heap.

One last word of vital advice. Never put food, oil, fat or bones etc on the compost heap as they will not compost properly and worse they attract rats and mice

Despite a damaged knee caused whilst planting roses in hard clay soil (which my wife has assured me is my own fault and self inflicted) I have managed to fight through the pain barrier and do some gardening.

April 7th: Things I have been doing today.

Plant out seedlings. You will remember that a few weeks ago I planted Butternut Squash and Gala Melon seeds. These were harvested from last summers Squash and Melon and is very easy to do. Both plants have shallow roots so I have discovered (purely by a self sowing chance) and are ideal for planting under citrus trees such as orange and lemon. They do not interfere with the roots of the tree, citrus trees are always in sun which suits them and the regular feeding of the Squash and Melon suits the tree.

I have already had the seedlings in coir pots which bio-degrade in the soil. Dig a hole about 6 inches deep, fill with well rotted compost, water the compost profusely and then push the seedling in its coir pot directly into the soil. If they are not in coir pots just place them directly into the compost. Then cover the area around the seedlings with dry compost as this will stop the leaves getting wet and possibly rotting. We will find out what happens over the next few weeks!

The above heading may sound like a firm of Solicitors but in fact but it is how I spent a bit of time today.

April 4th: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Deadhead your bulbs. It is time to show no mercy to spent bulb flower heads’ so deadhead like The Queen of Hearts – off with their heads! As soon as bulbs flowers have died back, cut the heads off straight away to ensure they do not waste energy on making seeds. Leave the stems and leaves in place and let them die back over the next few weeks and water only sparingly. We will come back to sort them out in a few weeks.

🌻 Take cuttings. This is all getting a bit gruesome! Now that everything is springing into life, this is the ideal time to take cuttings either to expand your garden and get free plants, or, to give to friends and family who may have admired a particular plant. Today I have been taking cuttings of Dame de Noche and Spiderwort. The best time to take cuttings is in the early morning or evening. Take a sharp knife and cut just below a leaf node (secateurs tend to crush tender stems). Remove all the leafs from the stem leaving just 2/4 at the top. Then dip into rooting hormone – liquid or powder. Don’t worry if you don’t have this. Place into a pot of well watered compost’ place three or four cuttings around the edge of a four inch pot (this helps rooting – don’t ask me why, it just does). Place the cuttings in a light sheltered position – not in direct sun. Hopefully in 3 or 4 weeks we can look at these again.