Summer’s no holiday for the gardener
THIS month has finally showed us that England can have a proper summer; weeks of sunshine, warmth and a lot of work for the gardener.
Anyone who has a hangingbasket should by now have built up enough muscles to enter Mr Universe because every basket and container packed with plants has needed regular watering – perhaps not just once but twice a day. When the weather is hot and there’s a pleasant but drying breeze, moisture evaporates faster than a pint of Foster’s in an Aussie’s hands.
So, when the water gets going, so does the gardener, and providing life-giving liquid (to the plants not the Aussies) should be done early in the morning and then again in the evening. If you have to leave the chore to the middle of the day, then ensure that you keep the water off plant leaves as much as possible. Sunlight magnified through water droplets can cause scorch marks on the foliage that are unsightly for weeks.
With this amount of water passing through the plants and the compost, feeding is also vital if you want to encourage flowering throughout the summer. Use the best feed to encourage flowers, but anything is better than nothing. Just try to avoid nitrogen-rich foods which encourage more leaves than flowers. A once-a-week feed added to your watering regime is essential for good strong foliage and the best of blooms.
When you’ve got a few minutes to spare, remember that July and August are the best times to take cuttings of geraniums and pelargoniums (whatever you like to call them). Dip the base into a hormone rooting and push the prepared cuttings around the edge of a pot filled with a suitable compost.
Geraniums tend to prefer a freedraining compost, so adding a bit of sharp sand (not builder’s sand) will not go amiss.While you’re out and about, keep an eye open for pests, particularly greenfly and blackfly, which should be tackled as soon as they’re seen. Their sticky excrement encourages sooty mould and plants will grow poorly.
Fungicide won’t control sooty mould – clean it off, if possible, with water and then tackle the bugs with an insecticide. If you can’t bear to use chemicals, mix some washing-up liquid in warm water and spray it onto the plant’s foliage. It should knock off the aphids – but they will be back, and you’ll have to do the job at regular intervals.