大象传媒

The forest fires in Berkshire remind us that the ground is very dry and that will be the same in the garden too so make sure watering is the order of the day especially if you have salads, fruit and vegetables recently sown or planted out. In my view, watering is best carried out in the morning and early evening, that way the plants will get the best of the moisture as leaving the job to the middle of the day means valuable water will evaporate before the plants can absorb it.

Watch out for signs of insect and fungal attack which will decimate young plants. If you spot the problem early enough then you can take action preventing the spread to other healthy plants. My advise is to select a product for the job from the many products available at your local garden centre and then follow to the letter the instructions on the packaging. Action taken now will ensure good harvests later in the growing season, however, checking and spraying should be done on a regular basis which means one application may not be enough to eradicate some problems first time.

PLANT OF THE WEEK:
Aquilegia or Columbine is so easy to grow. This border hardy Perennial with masses of tall flower stems will grow in most gardens and give a wonderful display of colours ranging from whites right through to blues and reds. As this plant seeds profusely you will find over the next few seasons that Aquilegia will be springing up growing just about everywhere.

TOPICAL TIPS:

Check Peaches and Nectarines for signs of late Peach Leaf Curl which is a water borne fungal disease which as the name suggests, makes the leaves curl. If allowed to persist will ruin the crop. Spray the foliage with Bordeaux Mixture or a general garden fungicide or better still physically remove infected foliage.

Plant Mid season Potatoes either in the open ground or in containers and select from many varieties available now.

Take Ivy cuttings about the length of a pencil and push into pots of compost. Keep evenly moist and just forget about them. In three months or so you will have new Ivy plants to pot on or transplant into new planting positions.

Happy Gardening.