The Garden Magazine

There's always something new going on in the garden, subcribe to our RSS feed to keep up with the news. Thanks for visiting!

March will soon be upon us and it is the time of year when there are lots of jobs to do and the weather is fit to get out into the garden and enjoy doing them.

Fruit and Vegetables need your attention at this time of year and you should be busy preparing the seedbeds for later use by clearing them and maybe covering them with polythene or fleece to warm up the soil in cooler areas to give your seedlings a head start. In milder areas you can certainly start to think about sewing some crops outdoors, at the very least you should be sowing some seeds in the greenhouse for later use. Certainly early potatoes can be planted. Things like Shallots, onions and garlic can be planted along with Asparagus (my favourite!)

In the greenhouse it is time to sow peppers, tomatoes and other salad veges, celery and artichokes can be started off now as well. If you have blossom coming on some of your stoned fruits such as apricots, nectarines and peaches they will need to be protected from stray frosts – like the heavy one we had last night. A good mulch and feed will do them good at this time of year as well. Any pruning of soft fruits needs to be completed as well.

Most of my winter vegetables are coming to an end now but there are still a few parsnips, some Purple Sprouting (my second favourite) and Kale in the garden. I have some spinach that has overwintered quite well too and we are still picking that. I must admit to beginning to crave the fresh new salads of the spring too though we’ll be eating the last of the winter sprouts and cabbages first.

It’s a time of year when I love looking at the nursery catalogues as well, thinking about all the things I want to put in the garden, more and more I find myself looking at the websites as they have such a lot of extra information, like Gardeners Choice. They are an excellent source of ideas and information for any gardener.

Organic Gardening is the method of growing plants, fruit and vegetables  without  the use of chemicals or artifical additives.  It can be a very cost effective form of gardening as you don’t have to buy vast quantities of chemicals.  Many poeple worry about how to ensure the health of their garden if they don’t use these much advertised products.

For example, feeding your soil and keeping it productive.  You can easily make compost from kitchen scraps and garden waste. It takes very little time to put your green waste into a compost bin and puts your garbage to good use and also it is more ecologically sound.  Organic gardening is much kinder to the environment. Chemicals used in the garden can be washed into our waterways, causing damage and death to the animals, insects and fish often polluting their habitat.

Organic gardening uses methods that help prevent the loss of topsoil through erosion by planting more effectively and using nature itself to protect and preserve the fertilitiy of the soil such as raised beds and simple companion planting techniques.  It is estimated that over 30  billion tons of soil is eroded from farms in the USA alone each year.  Multiply that to global proportions and you can soon see that every little helps.

Pest Control is often cited as a problem for organic gardeners but there are many simple recipes for safe natural compounds that work effectively. A simple spray can be made by mixing  a tablespoon of liquid detergent and a cup of cooking oil which helps remove a lot of the bugs such as greenfly.  Three  tablespoons of this mixture in two pints of water and simply spray onto your plants, there is no need to worry about the effect on the fishin yourpond or the birds that visit the garden.  Companion planting alongside the main crop is an excellent deterrent to pests, for example   marigolds help to protect vegetables from aphids.  Or what about putting pistachio nuts shells round plants that are vulnerable to slugs and snails.   The sharp shells and the salty residue gets rid of them very effectively.

Rather than buying expensive peat which damages the enivronment dreadfully what about a simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the growth of weeds as well as keeping the moisture in.  You can shred or chip a lot of your heavy garden waste into mulches like this.  Out local Council offers a service where they will come and shred any trees or big garden waste and bag it up for you to use later.

Organic gardening is a simple and safe method of gardening, especially where food crops are concerned and helps to keep our planet safe for our children and grandchildren.

From time to time you come across a product that you know is just so good that you have to share it – it is my intention to share them with you when I find them in an occasional series. Gardening is one of those things that is easy when you know how but finding out can be something of a trial. There are many manuals out there which have used up acres of trees in their production. I came across this ebook, Gardening Made Easy, which impressed me a great deal – mainly for the quality of it’s content but also the fact that it is on your pc and you don’t have to sacrifice a forest to be able to read it!

Starting from scratch Gardening Made Easy goes from the basics of panning your garden through mulching and watering to organic insecticides and pest control you will find most of the information you need clearly presented and well laid out.

Even if you have never picked up a garden tool in your life before you will soon be comfortable with pruning and dead heading as if you had been doing it all your life with the help of this useful manual. Almost every different style of gardening is covered, from ornamental to kitchen gardens and if your preference is for organic methods then there is plenty of information for you within it covers. Garden tools are not neglected as they can make or break you as a Gardener. If your tools aren’t comfortable to use or effective then you will find them difficult and soon give up.

Gardening Made Easy is well structured in ten chapters that go from Basics, through planning and maintenance, Organic, Hydroponic, Vegetable, Flower and Tree Gardening with well laid out information for ease of reference. Even if you are an experienced gardener I would recommend it to you without hesitation as I am sure you will find something of interest.

Garden Water features are so much a part of what we expect to find in our gardens that they are almost one of the first things that goes into your garden plan. However in these days of climate change we do have to consider carefully the use of that precious resource – water.

I live in an agricultural area that is prone to flooding so it may seem a little ironic for me to talking about preserving water but, along with the floods, we get some baking hot weather that has the clay soil in my garden drying out and cracking like craters on the moon. We lurch from one extreme to the other and I think we have to accept that this is the way life is going to be from now on and take adequate steps to ensure the well being of our gardens, especially if you depend on them for your food.

The first water feature that has to be considered in my opinion is a water butt or some form of storing rain water – as much as you can. You can use ‘grey water’ from baths, showers and so on but you shouldn’t really store it for more than 24 hours for garden use. If you run out and it’s dry that is when you turn to your water butts. They are relatively inexpensive and it is worth investing in a good quality one with a tap at the bottom, and a stand so you can draw off the water easily. Simple to fit on your downpipes they can soon repay the investment by reducing your water charges. The amount of rain that runs off any roof is enormous and if you can harness that you will be helping your pocket as well as the environment.

Autumn and Winter are  generally considered the best time of year to move your garden plants but in truth, it can be done at almost any time providing adequate precautions are taken. Personally I move a lot of my plants in the early Spring after Winter has taken its toll.

When moving a smaller plant – under a metre high you should first remove any dead material and trim the plant to about two thirds of its size. Digging out the rootball is the next step making sure that you take a reasonably large amount, around the same diameter as the plant is good. A large enough hole should be dug and the plant will generally benefit if you backafill with some compost.

Any plant up to about two metres should be loosened a few days before you remove it, digging a hole at least 30 cms deep and long or damaged roots should be trimmed off before replanting. Bigger plants and trees need further preparation still, you should dig out around two sides to a reasonable depth then let the plant stand for a week, then trim it back by about one third before digging around the other sides then leave it again for a week or so, patience is required! When you remove the plant wrap the rootball to protect it.

The new hole should be bigger than the rootball and again you should backfill and possibly add some feed. Once the plant is in place, firm it in carefully and keep an eye on it for a week or two. All plants should be well watered in when moved.