March 2011
Newsletter

• Do the big tidy up by cutting back winter skeletons of perennials with clean, sharp secateurs to make way for new growth.
• Lift and divide overgrown clumps of perennials to allow settling time before the growing season really kicks in. Divide your lifted plant by slicing right through the middle of it with the blade of a spade, and then replant and water in as quickly as possible.
• Prune summer or late-summer flowering deciduous shrubs and hardier evergreen shrubs. Make sure you cut back to just above a leaf joint or node. It’s worth cutting shrubs such as Hydrangeas and shrub Roses back quite hard, to ensure a bushy and well branched specimen develops.
• Weeds will start coming back into growth - deal with them before they get out of hand! Annual weeds can be removed by just hoeing or digging, but the tougher perennial weeds may need chemicals applied to eradicate them.
• Mulch with well rotted horse manure or bark chips. Mulching your borders will help suppress the weeds, and also retain moisture in the soil, reducing the need to water as much.
• Plant new fruit trees and bushes. There’s room in every garden, no matter how small, for some fruit. Modern methods mean that you can even have a productive fruit tree growing in a pot.
• Plant hedging, shrubs, trees, climbers and roses. Getting new plants in now will ensure they romp off once the weather properly warms up.
• Sprinkle a balanced fertiliser such as Growmore or concentrated chicken pellets onto your beds and borders.
• Revitalise pots and tubs with a top dressing of No 3 compost.
• Sow tomatoes, vegetables and half-hardy annuals inside under cover (separate sheet on sowing seeds below)
• Protect new spring shoots from slugs.
• Add colour and fill empty space in window boxes or containers by sinking small pots of spring bulbs into any gaps. After flowering you can remove pots and plant them out in the garden for next year.

Growing plants from seed

Most packets have clear instructions on how to start the seeds off. Some need to be started off “under glass” (ie protected in some way), whereas others can be sown directly into the position they are to grow in. The notes below refer to the first group, as those grown directly outside are almost self explanatory. The methods described apply to both vegetable and flower seeds.

Seeds need 4 things to germinate:

• Viability
• Warmth
• Light
• Moisture

The viability of seeds cannot be guaranteed, but modern seed production means that most will be so. If you are sowing seeds gathered in the wild, you may notice a lower percentage of germination success, but not necessarily.

1.   Propagators:

There’s no doubt that seeds will germinate quicker and more uniformly if kept in conditions where the temperature is stable, so it is well worth investing in a propagator. They have clear plastic covers to ensure the seeds receive the light they require too. The best are the heated ones (warm soil = quicker germination), but the basic trays with a clear plastic lid are better than none at all. Alternatively use a “root trainer” base with a lid. These are excellent at the stage when you need to pot up your seedlings as there is no root disturbance. At a real push, you can even make a Heath Robinson affair out of seed trays covered in cling film, propped up with ice-cream sticks, but (from personal experience!) I don’t recommend this as, apart from the inevitable collapse of the carefully constructed “roof”, it’s a nightmare to water!. Place your propagator in a bright sunny position.

2.   Compost:

Make sure you use the correct growing medium. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Seed, No 1, 2 and 3 compost? The answer is actually very simple: No 2 has twice the nutrients of No 1 and No 3 has twice the nutrients as No 2. The reason for this might not be quite so obvious, however. Whilst you want some fertilizer in the soil to nourish your seeds and set them on their way, if the ratio is too high it will force growth too quickly. The seedlings will shoot up, but be tall and weak rather than stocky and strong. Therefore, it IS important to use Seed compost, which is specifically designed for seed sowing for optimum success.

Adding material to open up the soil encourages root growth, and strong roots make for a strong plant. You can add horticultural grit, Perlite or Vermiculite – any one of which will help with root growth (I won’t go into the difference between Perlite and Vermiculite here). Mix the compost with your chosen aerating material at a ratio of approximately 60:40 or 70:30 in a trug or other container.

Fill (but don’t overfill) your seed tray with the mix, tap down the tray on a hard surface to get rid of air pockets in the compost, and moisten it well. Then sow your seeds into the soil mix as specified on the seed packet. A rule of thumb has always been to plant at least double the number of seeds actually required, to allow for germination failure, but I’ve found that germination rates tend to be much better than 1 in 2, particularly with larger seeds (broad beans, for instance) so I’d suggest planting about 30 – 50% more seeds than desired plants to guarantee that you get the number of plants you need.

Large seeds should be sunk into the soil (make a hole with a dibber, pencil or chop stick) and then covered back over with soil. Tiny seeds should be scattered over the soil surface and then a very small amount of additional compost mix lightly sprinkled on top of them.

3.   Germination:

Cover the seed tray with its lid, and wait. And wait. Some seeds can take up to 2 weeks or more to germinate. Don’t be tempted to keep lifting the lid to peer at the soil, as this will cause a drop in temperature, and you want to keep a moist, humid atmosphere at this stage. Also, don’t be tempted to water the soil, as this could wash the tiny seeds into clumps near the edges of the tray, so wait until after they’ve germinated. If for any reason the soil really does dry out, spray tepid water on the compost, using a very fine water spray.

Once germination has taken place and the seedlings can be seen above the soil, lightly spray with tepid water every few days to keep conditions moist.

When the first set of proper leaves appear, start to increase ventilation, either by opening the vents in the lid (if your propagator has them), or lifting the lid and propping it open for a short while each day. This allows vital air circulation, and starts to gently acclimatize the tiny plants to the real world!

4.   Pricking out:

Once the seedlings are showing 2 or more sets of proper leaves, it’s time to give them more room to grow. Spray the soil an hour or so before transplanting them. Fill some small pots with compost mix. Use the same mix as before with a tiny bit of added fertilizer, or use No 1 compost. Tap the base of each pot firmly on a hard surface to gently pack the soil down, and water it. Make holes for the plant’s roots - depending on the size of the pots you use, you can put up to 4 or 5 plants in each.

Gently hold the seedling’s leaves in one hand, whilst teasing the roots out of the seed tray with a suitable implement (the sharp end of a pencil works well). Pop the roots into the hole, making sure you don’t take the soil level higher up the stem than it was before, and gently firm the compost around them.

At this stage the seedlings shouldn’t need to be covered as long as they’ve had some acclimatization, but should still stay indoors on a window sill, or in the greenhouse, avoiding cold draughts.

5.   Potting on:

Once the plants have matured and grown to at least double their size, they can be moved into individual pots, using the same method and compost mix as before.

6.   Hardening off:

As the young plants develop, and the weather warms up, they need to be hardened off, which essentially means preparing them for the move outside. Do this by taking them outside and placing them in a sheltered position during the day, and return them under cover at night. If you have a cold frame they can be left in it with the cover open during the day and closed up at night.

7.   Planting out:

When all fear of frost has passed, it’s time to put your plants into their final position in the garden or allotment. By now they will be sturdy and strong enough to be handled in the same manner as any other plant, so plant them out in the usual way, making sure that you’ve added some good quality compost to the planting hole (No 3 or Vegetable mix, depending on the plant type).

This may all seem a bit daunting, but it really isn’t rocket science … I’ve gone into such depth to try to explain why each stage is vital. This should, I hope, make the process clearer and more understandable.

If there’s anything you’re not sure about, please don’t hesitate to ask.

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Tel:020 8670 7788 www.alleynpark.co.uk