Category: Uncategorized

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.

This is the start of the various garden pests we have here in Spain. Now that the deadly processionary caterpillars are gone for another year, this is no time to relax otherwise you will be overwhelmed.

April 3: Things I have been doing today.

🌻 Spray Oleander Scale: If you look closely at the leaves of your Oleander you will see small orange or white dots that often run along the inner seam of the leaf. You will probably need your glasses on to see this properly. This is the Oleander Scale beetle; a tiny beetle that breeds profusely and will suck all the sap out of your plant, and in the worst cases will kill it. (See photo below). You need to spray this with a proprietary brand pest killer. Because the beetle is covered with a waxy coating it can be impervious to spray; but do it weekly till it all turns black; then keep an eye on it.

🌻 Spray Greenfly: This is getting a bit depressing! But just like Scale, Greenfly are very active at the moment. Tell tale signs are small flys flying around plants when you move them, leaves covered in a sticky coating and a sooty residue. If you see this – then get your glasses on again – and you will see small green eggs and young attached to the leaves of your plant. (See photo below). Greenfly are not fussy so it is not just roses they will go for; orange, lemon, pomegranate can all suffer from attacks. For best results spray in the evening or first thing in the morning when all the adults will be on the plant.

🌻 Flag Iris: Just to cheer you up after all that depressing stuff; here is a picture of my flag irises. More about them later in the month.

April is the month when the Spanish garden really begins to take off. If you have followed all my blog posts to date then you should have your garden in hand and ready for the joys of Summer. From now on I will try to make posts more frequent as there is lots to do at this time of year.

🌻 Prick out your seedlings: A few weeks ago I planted a range of seedlings in my mini 3 shelf greenhouse. Although there have been some failures – mainly my fault by sowing just as the weather went dull – but overall they have been very successful (see picture above). Now is the time to prick them out and plant them in trays with more space between them. I use a pencil to gently ease out clumps of seedlings, then picking them up by the leaves – never the stem- I replant them; 24 to a normal seed tray. Pick only the best and strongest seedlings and discard the rest on the compost heap; heartbreaking I know but necessary. Place the trays back in your mini greenhouse or place in a sheltered and not full sun area of your garden.

🌻 Plant new roses. This month is your last opportunity to plant roses in Spain. But these must be potted roses as bare root will not survive at this time of year. Dig a hole at least twice the size of the root ball. Fill the hole with water and leave to drain fully. In the meantime soak your rose in its pot and again let this drain over an hour or so. Start by placing some well rotted compost at the base of the hole then add some granular rose food. Place the rose root ball into the hole and then backfill with a mixture of soil and compost adding rose food as you go. When planting roses it is important that the bud union is at least two inches below the soil. Water the roses profusely and them mulch the top with compost or bark chipping to keep the moisture in. Keep well watered over the next few weeks.

🌻 Repair damaged lawn areas: I use the soil dug from the roses to repair areas of my lawn that have gone bare or have been damaged by our Labradors. First sieve the soil to get out any stones or plant debris that might damage your lawn. Then add some store bought compost to the soil and mix well. Using a trowel wander round your lawn spreading a light dusting of the mixture onto the damaged and bare areas’ then using a stiff broom sweep it into the lawn and between the blades of grass to ensure you don’t cover over healthy grass areas. Do not roller this or tramp the soil down as this will only create potential mud areas on your lawn; just leave it a few days and it will eventually all blend in and give your grass a chance to colonise the new areas.

🌻 Feed your plants and kill weeds:  By now you should be feeding your plants weekly, especially those in pots. I use liquid feed mainly, but I also sprinkle the blue granulated stuff on the borders at this time of the year as a “once a year feed”. I have already treated broad leaf weeds on my lawn, but it is now time for a second and final treatment to make sure they are all gone for the summer with no chance of seeding.

We are currently at our home in Kent taking care of our English garden. Now this is something completely different from Spain; everything is still dormant and will be for at least a couple of months. We return to Spain soon and then the real work starts – get ready for March the month when the Spanish gardener’s summer work takes off.

By now you should have completed your full winter cut down and clear up. If you haven’t done so yet then you better get your skates on. All bushes perennials and hardy plants should have been cut back by now. This includes Spanish favourites like Bougainvillea, Dam de Noche, Plumbago etc. Failure to cut back now will mean leggy plants during the summer that are likely to flop and produce inferior flower shows. If you are lucky enough to have Roses – and I am pleased to tell you we do – then make sure they are cut back by at least two thirds for mature Roses and one third for first year plants. This again will ensure a good show of flowers later in the year.

Another important job for February is to prepare your Citrus trees after you have harvested the fruit. This is a job that you must not leave too long as failure to act now will find you interfering with the new year flowers and buds and thereby reducing your crop next year. Harvest your fruit on a daily basis where possible this applies to Oranges in particular. When all the fruit is off the tree you have a very short window of opportunity before next year’s flowers and buds start to appear. For mature trees you need to do a general tidy up and trim each year, with a major prune every third year. Be much more gentle with young trees (under 3-4 years). Start by cutting any branches that are growing vertically; aiming to ensure that there are no crossing branches in the centre of the tree. Once you have removed all the clutter from the centre of the tree you should have a nice open centre to the tree that will let in lots of light and air. Lastly, trim round the whole of the outside of the tree using your hedge trimmer to give a neat tidy finish.

The last job I would recommend in February is planting out any hardy cuttings you took last year. If like us you have dogs, then I suggest you place cross canes over your delicate cuttings or they just get trampled (see photo above).