My gardening view over the past few weeks has been all about the return of old friends and the constant battle against wildlife in the garden.
The view from the potting shed is still one of netting as I try to keep the resident pigeons off the brassicas – and anything else they take a fancy to.
There’s also the addition of a new and rather lovely bird table and a hanging bird feeder – presents from the offspring. I’m just hoping the pigeons won’t try to squeeze their way onto it.
Summer isn’t complete for me without sweet peas and my plants have now started producing blooms in abundance.
Quite a few are from previous years but there are several new varieties that I’m growing as part of the 2020 gardening trials.
Already, I’ve discovered a couple that are definitely well worth space in the garden, including ‘Just Janet’ from Chiltern Seeds. It’s a really pretty pink blush variety and has long stems making it ideal for cutting.
Aside from the sweet peas, the first of this year’s flowers in the gardening trials to bloom was the Antirrhinum majus ‘Chantilly Light Pink’ also from Chiltern Seeds. I’ve had only a couple of flowers so far but am hopeful of lots more.
I always struggle to get carrots to germinate so I should have realised that the ornamental carrot, Daucus carota ‘Dara’ from Marshalls, might be tricky. It was part of last year’s gardening trials and finally germinated late into the season.
However, the tiny plants survived the winter and are now in full flower. I’m rather smitten and may well try growing them again.
Several of the dahlias are already in flower, which is earlier than usual. As in previous years, the first to arrive were the ‘Dwarf Cactus’ that I grew from seed a few years ago. There’s something rather mad about these flowers and they never fail to make me smile.
I was sent Nemaslug in return for a fair review.
Slug and snail damage can be a problem with dahlias, especially when the new shoots appear. I grow mine in pots until they are reasonably big and the plant has toughened up.
This year, I’m also trying Nemaslug nematodes from Nemasys in the vegetable garden to help reduce the number of slugs. This is a biological control and an organic way of dealing with the problem.
The main drawback is having to keep the ground well watered, which was a problem early on but soon solved by last week’s torrential rain.
Of course, it’s not easy to say whether they are working or not – how do you prove a negative? – but, despite the recent wet weather, the dahlias, lettuce and other veg have escaped the usual night time nibbling so the indications are good. They are available from Green Gardener.
I wish the same could be said of the strawberries. Despite the netting, something is ‘picking’ both ripe and unripe fruit. I’m blaming the mice that decimated my first sowings of sweet peas and beans.
I did see another gardener recently complaining about beans being attacked by a vole so that’s another possibility.
Thankfully, the recent rain has filled the water butts ahead of this week’s hot temperatures.
I was sent the Water Butt Klear in return for a fair review
I’ve pressed an old bin into service alongside the greenhouse and am using Envii Water Butt Klear to try to keep the water sweet.
It utilises organic bacteria to keep the water clear and Envii say: “Included within this blend of bacteria are a strain that have been proven to improve both plant growth and crop yields whilst reducing the risk of disease and pathogens.”
It’s straightforward to use – simply add a tablet every week after the intial dose. Best of all, the packaging is compostable.
With all gardeners being urged to conserve water, this has arrived at just the right time.
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