YOUR GARDENING GUIDE
Raised beds
Raised beds are good for growing vegetables, and soft fruits in particular, because they allow greater control over drainage, soil temperatures and soil type and condition.
Beds are best no wider than 1.5 metres so you can reach across from both sides. Paths between the beds should be at least 30cm, or up to 45cm if you want to get a wheelbarrow along them. Use untreated timber for the frames (or rocks or bricks). Or buy a kit.
If placing on a hard surface, such as pavers, lay at least 10cm of coarse gravel on the bottom, then a thick layer of cardboard or newspaper. Fill beds with organic matter, such as a mix of topsoil and compost. Extras such as wellrotted animal manure – sheep or poultry – leaf mould, grit, and straw may also be incorporated.
Let soil settle for a fortnight or so before sowing or planting. After planting, mulch with compost, pea straw, pine needles etc. Existing beds may need to be topped up every year or so.
Edibles
Beans, beetroot, broccoli, carrots, coriander, celery, lettuce, peas, radish, spinach and spring onions may be sown direct into the garden now – as long as the soil is not too wet still.
Asparagus crowns may still be planted, preferably in soil rich in compost and seaweed. Plant 40cm apart, 10cm deep, with fine soil on top. Resist picking for another year. Plant yams in a sunny spot with blood and bone and sheep pellets added to the soil. As the shoots grow the plants should be mounded up with soil, much as is done with potatoes.
While strawberries are usually planted in autumn or winter to let them establish before fruiting, they may still be planted now. Prepare the bed by digging in compost and sheep pellets. Do not let the plants dry out, and ensure the crown is at soil level – not buried – when planting. Feed citrus with compost and/or a commercial citrus fertiliser.
Ornamentals
Do not remove daffodil, and other narcissus, leaves for at least another two months as they’re needed to feed the bulbs.
Feed roses with well-rotted manure, or a commercial rose fertiliser. Plant perennials and sow annual seeds.
Trim new hedges – quite hard initially – and keep bases clear of weeds. Apply compost or wellrotted manure around their bases.
Cut back azaleas, camellias and magnolias after flowering. Sow new lawns or repair old ones.