My gardening DIARY
MONDAY
We cut back most of our hakonechloa just in time before the stormy weather. Its rusty blades persist deep into winter but if we get fierce winds, the clumps begin to disintegrate covering nearby beds with their leaves.
TUESDAY
Po ing on sweet peas grown in rootrainers. Though the general idea is to plant out seedlings direct once they’ve filled their compartments, roots are already bursting out. It’s too early to introduce them to the outside world so they'll go into one litre pots and we'll nip out their tops when they’ve made three sets of leaves.
WEDNESDAY
Despite telling myself not to buy any more snowdrops, I’ve been unable to resist and have acquired small numbers of several varieties new to the garden. Should they be lined out in a nursery bed or incorporated in strictly separated sites?
THURSDAY
Not everyone has room for a native hedge, but there’s space in most gardens to plant a hedge with several native trees as a boundary or a partition. Not only would there be a changing tapestry but there would be multiple benefits to wildlife, too.
FRIDAY
We’re po ing on some perennials that are a bit small to go out into the garden straight away. With extra compost and nutrients and nurture, they’ll be able to cope on their own when they’re finally planted out.
SATURDAY
Though wallflowers are a spring essential, perennial wallflowers, erysimum, are my favourites, simply because many of them flower for many months and will last for several years. We’re taking cu ings right now.
SUNDAY
Topping up lilies in pots helps you anticipate their summer flowering. They were planted so the top of their bulbs reached halfway up their pots; now that new shoots are pushing through, they need more compost to grow into.