BUSY TIMES (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

BUSY TIMES

9:25am Monday 23rd May 2011

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Yet another lovely week with some welcome overnight rain on Sunday. This really is a busy time in the garden and I decided this weekend to get on with planting out. I am trying containers this year for different kinds of tomatoes, some very large ‘beefy’ ones from Italian seed, a couple of the smaller but highly flavoured ‘Piccolo’ and two cherry tumbling varieties. The latter I have planted into terracotta chimney pots so they have somewhere to ‘tumble’. I have also planted containers with a yellow courgette and three outdoor ridge cucumbers. As with all plants in containers they will need regular and careful watering and feeding. They are all fairly close together in one area of the garden so none of them should be overlooked.

I decided that it was time for the ‘Morning Glory’ to go into their permanent homes so they are now in two large pots with obelisks to scramble up. They are next to a west facing wall so should do very well. The variety is ‘Carnevale di Venezia’ and promises abundant pink and blue flecked blooms from July until September, possibly longer if regularly dead-headed. I have also planted another container with sweet peas, I chose to grow ‘Matucana’, a lovely pink and purple variety with wonderful scent. All sweet peas benefit from frequent picking so I am looking forward to enjoying them indoors as well as in the garden.

Our lawns can be the most over-worked parts of the garden and by now may be looking a little neglected. Give them a treat with a high-nitrogen spring/summer feed spread as evenly as possible. If it doesn’t rain within three days following treatment be ready to water the whole area to avoid the grass being scorched. If the weeds in your lawn are in danger of taking over try using a combined feed and weedkiller. There are lots on the market but whichever one you decide to buy follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

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