The Week Ahead

Growing Umbelifiers

  • This plant family is commonly known as ‘cow parsley’ and its many relatives, fine-textured ferny plants with showy spring and summer flowers that grow wild in woodland and meadows.
  • They are ideal for a naturalistic planting as they are easy to grow. 
  • Try the late spring perennials Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’. With lacy purple leaves and white flowers.
  • Sow seeds in containers in a cold frame as soon as ripe. Pick out into deep containers to prevent damage to the roots when planting out later.
  • Sow seeds thinly, 1in deep in drills 12in apart in well-cultivated soil. Water well, especially in dry spells. Germination should take between 7-21 days.
 

Plant Garlic

  • Plant between autumn and spring in an open, sunny site in well-drained soil improved with a little well-rotted organic matter.
  • Split the bulbs into cloves upright 4in deep in light soils to give the best yields. Set out cloves 7in apart with a12in gap between each clove.
  • Harvest autumn. (Winter bulbs in late spring) when the leaves turn yellow. Spring-planted bulbs can be lifted in midsummer to early autumn. 
  • Lift carefully without bruising the bulb and dry a single layer on a rack, allowing for plenty of air to circulate.
  • Good cultivars for autumn planting include July maturing ‘Solent Wight’ from the Isle of White.  

If you would like more information on umbellifers or garlic or if you would like us to answer a general gardening qeustion please contact us.

 

Lily Bulbs – My lilies have produced small grape-like nodules underneath each leaf on the stems. What are they and can I propagate them?

     These are called bulbils and you can try propagating from them. Not all lilies produce these bulbils.
 

I have grown herbaceous plants from seed for the first time. However, they are still in 9in pots because the bed where they’ll be planted isn’t ready yet. Will they suffer if I don’t plant them now and could they spend the whole winter in their pots?

      Your plants should be fine if they are left in their pots a little bit longer. Just give them a little bit of shelter from the extreme cold weather because with them being in pots their roots are effectively above the ground and slightly more vulnerable.
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Professional Gardening Tips for a pest-free gardening

The solution to slugs: Grow a sacrificial crop 

If you have any other questions concerning your garden or plants then feel free to get in touch with your problem or inquiry.