Gardening: Week by week

Your guide on what to do in the garden this week, brought to you by Earlston Horticultural Society

Flowers

ERYSIMUMS: These plants are normally called Perennial Wallflowers and are becoming popular in borders as they flower for a long time and are fragrant. They look alright for a year or two but become woody and to keep them you need to take cuttings. Cuttings can be taken now or in late summer. If you can’t find a shoot without flowers just snip off the tip of the cutting, a cutting from the stem is best – just pull it down so that you are left with a ‘heel’, trim this to about 5mm (¼in) and root in a gritty compost

GERANIUMS/PELARGONIUMS: Pot on young plants on a regular basis to help them develop a good shape and produce plenty of flowers. Use pots that are only one or two sizes larger so that there is just enough room for some new compost around the root-ball. Use a good quality compost and lightly firm in. Remember these plants don’t need a lot of water, only water lightly if you see them starting to wilt

GARDEN BORDERS: Spring is a good time to feed your borders. Give them a boost to encourage strong, healthy growth and flowers. Use a general fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone, Growmore or pelleted chicken manure. Sprinkle fertiliser around your plants and lightly hoe in

Vegetables

BEETROOT and CARROTS: Sow seeds little and often so that you have a continuous supply of fresh young veg. Sow directly into drills that are well - prepared and hasn’t been recently manured, cover seeds with fine soil and lightly tamp surface. Keep moist and seedlings will soon appear. For carrots, cover with fleece to deter carrot fly

RUNNER BEANS: Sow one seed 5cm (2in) deep in each small pot of compost, they will grow quickly and after hardening off can be planted out. Plant out at the end of May but watch out for late frosts. To avoid stringiness, pick when small, fresh, young and bright green

COURGETTES: Sow now to plant out at the end of May. Sow one seed per small pot of compost 2cm (¾in) deep, water well and keep at 15c (59F) at least. When planting out allow 40cm (16in) between plants unless you are planting in large pots

Miscellaneous

LAWNS: Late April is best for sowing grass seed to repair worn or damaged areas of lawn or to over-seed an existing lawn that is weak or thin. To repair a worn or damaged area, loosen the surface with a small fork, mix the grass seed with some compost and use this to cover the area. To thicken a weak lawn, lightly scarify and over sow the whole area. It normally takes about 10 days to a fortnight to germinate so keep it moist and it will grow away quickly