Weekend gardener
Make the most of summer’s bounty
Have a crack at growing an apricot from a stone
Though seedling stone fruit (apricots and peaches in particular) won’t be an exact match of their parent, they will be pretty close. This means that if you eat a really sweet, tree-ripened fruit, there’s nothing to be lost by sowing the seed – and potentially lots of money to save.
Step 1: Eat the fruit and save the stone. Rinse off any flesh attached to the stone and let it dry in the sun for a day or two. This slightly shrinks the kernel inside, so that when you crack open the stone, you’re less likely to damage the kernel.
Step 2: Hold the stone on its side and give it a sharp tap with a hammer. The stone should readily split open along its seam, allowing for easy extraction of the kernel.
Step 3: Soak the kernel in a small bowl of warm water overnight, then sow, 1-2cm deep, in plant pots filled with good-quality potting mix. Keep moist until the seeds germinate. You’ll need to look after your seedling tree for a full season in its pot, so don’t let it dry out or get hit by frost in winter.
Don’t eat raw kernels because they contain a natural substance called amygdalin that can release cyanide in your stomach if eaten. This can cause illness and may be fatal, especially in children, so don’t leave them around where children or pets could chew on them.
Harvest garlic
Harvest your garlic when the lower leaves are brown but the top five or six are still green.
Don’t wait until all the leaves are brown as the quality will be reduced.
Leave the bulbs outside in a shaded, dry spot for a couple of days to dry, then hang in bunches in a cool, dry, airy location, and out of sunlight, to cure.
If the bulbs have begun to split open, the garlic is still usable but it won’t keep well. Eat any damaged bulbs first and save the best for seed.
In the rose garden
January is a good month for a summer prune.
Cut back the once-flowering roses because they need to be pruned now rather than in winter. The repeat bloomers can have a general tidy-up ready for February flowers.
Check the base of roses to see if winds have rocked the bud union out of the soil. A rose rocking on its roots isn’t happy so add more soil, tramp down firmly, and tie the rose to a strong stake if necessary.
Spray roses with skim milk and water – half and half – to discourage fungi such as black spot and rust. You can feed them at the same time by adding liquid fertiliser (seaweed or fish) to the mix.
Keep picking roses or deadheading to encourage the plant to keep flowering.