Keep a close eye on your corgis
Edibles
Pick courgettes regularly – in optimum conditions this could mean three times a week or more – before they turn into marrows. Then whip up a batch of zucchini, goat’s feta and pappardelle.
Courgette flowers may also be picked and eaten. Choose only male flowers which, unlike females, don’t produce fruit.
Females are identifiable by a swollen stem, resembling a miniature fruit. Cut flowers close to the head of the flower and don’t cut all the flowers off a vine – males are needed to pollinate female flowers. Use flowers within a day of harvesting.
Also needing regular, daily even, picking are cucumbers, gherkins, beans and peas – all need checking and picking on a daily basis. These are best eaten while young and sweet; as well regular picking will encourage more to be produced.
Once their leaves turn yellow, garlic, onions and shallots may be harvested. This should only be done on a dry day. Dig up, shake off as much dirt as possible – do not wash or remove the outer skins. Trim the fibrous roots back to the bulb, then leave to dry.
After harvest is complete, don’t just forget about asparagus. Fertilise it, or give it a liberal dose of compost and water well and regularly to encourage top growth.
Ornamentals
Feed roses to encourage more flowers and to get growth going and time to harden before frosts.
Hibiscus will also love a feed high in potash. A citrus fertiliser works well.
Cutting back delphiniums and geraniums after the first flush of flowers will encourage a second flush. Feed after cutting back.
Regular dead-heading, that is snipping off spent blooms, on both perennials and annuals will prolong the flowering period – and make the plant and garden more attractive. Roses, especially, can look bedraggled and in dire need of dead-heading after heavy summer rain.
Keep on top of weeds, especially perennial ones which are harder to rid the garden off. Remove before they flower, set seed and disperse it – all over your garden. There is much truth in the adage ‘‘one year’s seeds, seven years’ weeds’’.
Divide too big, crowded or poorperforming clumps of bearded irises. Maybe this is necessary about every three to five years. Dig up your clump, break off larger fans and replant them with the top of rhizome just above the soil surface. Ensure all rhizomes face the same way as they were growing, spacing them 10cm to 15cm apart.
– Mary Lovell-Smith