Oliver Nolan
As you will notice, box topiary and other formal hedging will have grown quite considerably and may begin to look a little shabby and out of shape.
Clipping it back in shape now and removing the new growth will encourage a much thicker plant and will have it looking great for the next couple of months of the summer. A further clipping will be needed again in August with the final clipping and shaping being carried out in the autumn that should have it looking its best throughout the autumn, winter and spring period.
Regular clipping of topiary and formal hedging is essiential to keep them looking defined and at their best.
Below is a picture from Kilmainham in Dublin of a formally laid out garden with plenty of topiary and formal hedging.
When clipping, make sure not to cut back into previous years growth, try to leave a couple of the current seasons leaves intact. Clipping is best carried out using a sharp garden shears to carfully get the plant back into shape.
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Oliver Nolan
There appears to be alot of peole talking lately of getting back to basics and nothing more so than growing your own food. Just look at the telly any night and see the many programes assoiated with growing your own food, Jamie Oliver & Richard Corrigan (both TV chefs) are two that have recently had programes running.
I recently paid a visit to my sister's newly aquired allotment at the Beech Hill Allotments not far from Kilternan. Although this is only their first year up and running, they look as if there is great potential and from what I have seen so far a lot of people have thier plot up and running.
From the RTE website by Richard Corrigan on how to get an allotment:
How to get an Allotment
- Contact your local authority to see if they have allotments and whether they have any spaces free or whether you can you put your name on the waiting list. Local authorities by law have to provide allotments if there is sufficient demand for them from the general public and if they have the available land and if they can afford to allocate the land for allotment purposes – ie they don’t need if for a greater cause. If the local authority has not had much interest in relation to allotments perhaps it is because people are not aware of the option. Maybe you can arrange interested parties to meet up and lobby the council together.
- Go on the web and see if there are any private allotments in your area. Some farmers are now renting allotments to the general public for a yearly fee.
- Perhaps there is an existing allotment association in your area.
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Oliver Nolan
Onion sets are now available in bags at your local garden centre, Lidl may still have them at 99c a bag if you are lucky.
They are very easy to grow and are best suited to good draining soil with some garden compost dug in. Rake the soil over to get it good and even and plant the sets with their root side down and only deep enough to show the tip of the remaining bulb sticking out. They should be spaced about 8-9 inches apart. If you want small onions, keep them spaced nearer and bigger onions farther apart.
If the soil is too hard and compacted when planting, the roots will not be able to get down into the soil and may end up pushing the buld out of the ground.
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Oliver Nolan
Now that a lot of the spring flowering bulbs around the garden such as daffodils are finishing up, some people feel the need to pull off or cut back the remaining foliage down to ground level.
The best advice is to leave it alone, the reason for this is the remaining leaves will continue to make food and replenish the bulb energy reserves allowin it to flower again next year. If these leaves are removed now the bulbs are unlikely to flower next year.
Over the coming weeks as the leaves turn yellow, they can be removed down to ground level.
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Oliver Nolan
Now is a good time to clean off the leaves of houseplants around the house and in the conservatory. Dust and dirt will have built up over the winter months and using a damp cloth to lightly rub the leaves clean. Also if there are any dead or damaged leaves they can be removed.
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Oliver Nolan
Camellia's are about to burst into flower in the coming days and if you have not fed them already its a good idea to give them an ericaceous feed. Woodies or Homebase have got a range of different products that can be applied.
If you are dead-heading the spent flower heads, make sure to do it carefully as it is very easy to damage the bud behind the flower that will carry the growth to next years flowers.
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Oliver Nolan
As signs of life begin to appear in the hosta's growing outside in the borders or ones that are growing in pots on the patio, now is the time to lift and divide them. A clump of hosta's that have been growing for the last 2 or 3 years can be divided up into 2 or 3 clumps and replanted. This method of increasing plant stock can be used with many other types of herbaceous plants as well such as geraniums and cannas.
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Oliver Nolan
As fruit tree are preparing to flower, feeding with a sulphate of potash fertiliser will give the trees a boost and prepare them to develop and produce a good healthy crop later on in the year. Read more
Oliver Nolan
Time to prune back your summer flowering clematis now in order for it to have a great show of flowers during the summer. They can be cut back to about one metre, just above a bud. Dont be afraid of such a hard pruning, it will b well worth it come June/July.
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Oliver Nolan
At this time of the year your grass should be kickstarting itself back into life and the first signs of new growth should becoming apparent. It is now a great time to get rid of any unwanted moss that has built up over the damp winter months.
An application of iron sulphate should kill off any moss in the grass, an added advantage of using the iron sulphate is it kills the moss instantly turning it black in the process and making it very easy to see.
The next step is to rake it out with a wire rake or if it is a large area you can hire out a petrol driven scarifier from a local hire centre.
This will have your lawn looking great for the summer months.
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Oliver Nolan
Now is a good time to visit your local garden centre and pick up a selection of cana lily bulbs, buying them this way is far more cost effective than waiting until June to buy them growing in pots. They can be started indoors or in a garden shed in small pots, sow them about 1-2 inches deep and water a little and in no time they will be growing. Later on in the year they can be planted outside in their flowering position or in patio pots.
There are many varieties out there to choose from with the larger varieties giving a great foliage display not to mention the continuous flowering period through-out the summer months. It is important to keep them fed every couple of weeks and dead-head the spent flowers regularly to encourage more to develop.
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