Early Spring Diary 2008

So we are told spring has arrived early, well has it?  And if so, who cares!  Isn’t it great to see some sun so early on and to get the start of early bulbs flowering, bringing with them cheerful colours.  What more could you want.  I still like some of the hybrids or crocus chrysanthus with not so strong colours.  Look out for Snow Bunting which is white but with a soft yellow centre, and then Cream Beauty, these are often available in pots to brighten up containers on the patio.  If you look out for them now and appreciate their beauty, make a note and then buy the bulbs to plant out in the Autumn.  Let me just give you one other, a soft purple and sometimes blues that flower before leafing – that’s Crocus tommasinianus.

I do go on, but spring brings the garden to life and it’s not just bulbs like daffodils and tulips is it, there are all those delicate flowers appearing in the shady parts of the garden and on the rockeries, like Cyclamen coum, Scillas with their delicate blues and purples, Iris reticulata and of course Anemone blanda, bright blues, white and pinks.  Get out there to your Garden Centre and start your garden off.  While you are there look outside in the shrub department.  Let’s start with checking out the Witch Hazels or Hamamelis.  There are so many to choose from, with yellow flowers like H.Westerstede or H.Jelena with it’s coppery coloured flowers all up completely bare stems.  Then there are the Viburnums with their pink flowers still flowering since before Christmas, and Magnolias which will soon be out if the weather stays like this - remember some varieties get very large like trees so give them room.  If you are looking for a more delicate small variety for your garden go for M.stellata or star magnolia that is white with multi-petals and fragrant.  If you want pink go for Rosea.  Last but not least on my list to buy would be Lonicera Fragrans or L.purpusii as it’s called, smelling like Hyacinths and equally as strong – it’s a must.

Now for those of you who are determined to be organic and avoid using chemicals at all, help is on its way for the lawn.  Okay you can just spread a compound base fertilizer on or bonemeal, but it really doesn’t bring the lawn up as green as you would have liked, does it.  Well Scotts are on track to release an Evergreen Organic Choice Lawn Food, which we are told is derived from totally naturally and sustainable sources and will green up the lawn in 7 days.  So there you have something new and ideal for a lawn used by children and pets.  

Let us stay on new and natural; "Nemasys" have just announced a new caterpillar killer ‘Nematodes’ that can be sprayed on your brassicas and will seek and destroy those caterpillars.  Just this year, trials on a commercial farm growing potatoes also showed that using the slug nematodes can help against keel slugs chomping away at your crop when it’s still trying to grow in the ground, so we’re full of natural cures this time.

What else should we be getting up to?  Well it’s a good time to check the mower and if it needs a service a good time to get it to the Shop as they will soon be very busy.  Look out for bargains on new mowers and think seriously about the environment and perhaps buy one of the new Hybrids from Wolf that uses electric from the mains and charges the battery at the same time.  Food for thought.  And have you got old tools repaired or replaced from last year, remember that I would always use Bulldog if I could, because again they are made in the UK, so good for the environment by not being carted half way round the world .

On our theme of good living I ask, are you in tune with the Moon?  Well in a new book I was looking at there are loads of better ways they say of keeping in tune with the Lunar cycle.  For instance, it’s a good time to sow vegetables from 23rd to 26th of February and March 8th and 10th.  Then you should prune apple trees when the moon is descending between the 15th and 28th of March.  Now you know, and next time I’ll give you some more hints for better growing!