Well, the dry weather has continued this spring, much to the surprise of many people. Here at Titsey, March gave us only 2.5 mm of rain!
Another strange thing we have noticed this season is how much plants are weeks earlier in flowering than usual, like our Rosa banksiae, which was really lovely but very early.
It’s funny but true, that in the garden there’s always something to do. By that I mean, if it’s dry you need to water but don’t need to weed so much, but if it’s wet then you don’t need to water but you need to weed quite a lot.
As I sat down today to write, at the risk of sounding like a garden magazine, I felt to share three basic and simple things that can make life so much more successful in your green space! The first of which is hoeing, which I have to say has never sounded that exciting. Indeed in my mind it conjures up images of a sweaty person on a hot day, with a big hat, a long pointy thing and a transistor radio playing in the background. But although hoeing doesn’t hit the headlines much in the gardening magazines, it is one of those things that can save a lot of heartache and hard work later. Ask me how I know!
Mulching comes second in my book. You can use bought products from garden centres and such like, but also clean grass clippings on the veggie plot are very useful.
Lastly, here at Titsey place we use cover crops in the Walled Garden. If you’ve never looked into them there is quite a selection of crops which can be used at different times of the year. Mostly we use Phacelia tanacetifolia to give it its posh name, as it is decorative, scented and very popular with honeybees. Cover crops or green manures as they are sometimes called, can be used for large areas but also for small zones that perhaps you have finished with for the season or didn’t get round to using. Cover crops are really good for keeping back unwanted weeds and saving that precious topsoil.
And here is my last top tip. Don’t forget to feed your plants and lawns. It’s that simple. It is utterly amazing to me how many gardeners I have met who work really hard on their gardens, spend quite a bit of money buying new plants and then forget to feed their plant material. Most plants don’t need much TLC, just a handful of feed at the beginning of the season. If you have a small or modest size garden, a £30 bag of feed will last most folks an entire season! But please don’t feel ashamed if this describes you as many professionals forget or even don’t see the need to feed plants.
My hope is to encourage you, dear readers to bigger successes and increased joy and satisfaction this summer in our shared passion… gardening.
Enjoy the blessings of the season.