5 Spring Time Propagation Essentials

At the start of the season, which can be as early as January and February, keen gardeners are already looking to start sowing seeds indoors or in their greenhouses ready for them to be moved outdoors for hardening off later on in the year.

To start this process there are a number of essential tools that will be required such as:

1. Heated Propagator – This is an ideal piece of gardening equipment in which to start your newly planted seeds. The heated propagator consists of a tray and cover with vents; the tray heats the soil from below, and the cover helps to retain the warmth. This provides the perfect growing environment for your seeds before you look to move them outdoors. The small heated propagator is 8w and the large heated propagator is 18w; they are cheap to run at approximately 1/3 of the cost of a 60w light bulb. This should give you a head start to the growing season and also give you peace of mind that your seeds will not be damaged by frost or pests.
2. Planting Pots – This type of pot is ideal when your seedlings have begun to grow; they are 9cm and have their own watering trays and capillary matting. Planting pots are perfect for growing on seedlings prior to outdoor planting, and although your seedlings should still be kept in the greenhouse or indoors during the night, they may be moved outside during the day. This is to ensure that they harden off ready for planting, which would usually be between April and June depending upon the plants you are growing.
3. Potting Bench – This is a priceless piece of equipment if you have a number of seedlings to pot as it can take the strain off your back and make potting a much more enjoyable experience. Made from treated timber to reduce decomposition, it is easy to move and can be brought inside in the winter months. The top shelf is used for potting and the bottom shelf is used for storage, a must for any keen gardener.
4. Collapsible Water Butt – Ideal during hose pipe bans, these butts collect rain water which can then be used for garden watering. With a 100ltr capacity and a standard hozelock connection, you can attach your hosepipe or simply fill a watering can. No tools are required to assemble the water butt, and it is comes in an attractive green which will compliment your garden.
5. Adapta Tunnels – These growing tunnels provide protection to your young plants when they are first moved and planted out in the garden; the first Adapta Tunnel that you purchase comes with separate hoops and polythene tunnel which will protect your young plants from any morning frosts and cold weather spells. As the year moves on you could choose to purchase different covers such as the fleece cover which is perfect for spring time and helps to keep the heat in the tunnel, or the shading net cover which will protect your plants from the harsh summer sun. The shading net is also ideal for protection from insects and greenfly, ensuring the production healthy, protected plants.

This is just a small selection of useful gardening equipment which aims to help you to easily grow the plants that you want for your garden. There is bound to be something in this list that catches your attention and inspires you to get started with this year’s planting, and hopefully makes your growing season much more successful than in previous years.

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Border Patrol

Not my garden, but it felt just about this daunting last year!

Last year I began to de-jungle the garden at my new house. I'm afraid that vanity dictated that the front - publicly visible - garden should be the one favoured with the most time and effort, and that the back would have to get by with a good tidy up. What with a new baby, and a certain feeling of being overwhelmed by the mammoth task at hand, I managed only one long straight, dull border, a giant landscaping/rock clearing job to level out an area for a shed and vegetable patch, and some serious lawn renovation.



Too formal for me these days....

 This year I will be buckling down, probably, and completing the border war. Straight lines and regimented planting is out, wavy lines and cottage garden planting will be in, although the willpower required in the planning stage may exhaust me all by itself. The problem I have is whether to plan and mark out the borders prior to digging - the obvious choice - or to whether to go with the flow and allow each area to evolve.

Convention suggests that the former course of action should be taken, but I have in the past used the latter to great effect. That is, I have allowed certain zones within a garden to grow and take on their own shape over a period of time, altering things on impulse and changing my mind often. In this fashion I have avoided regimentation and tradition, and finished up with something that tends to suit it's position and area.



... but this is just the kind of thing I'm looking for.

 For example, some years ago I ended up laying and re-laying a brick path through a pebbled area; I started off with a very unnatural straight line, and after much effort obtained a wavy, organic path which followed a natural route from a to b. This process was accidental, resulting from a dissatisfaction with the first attempt. If anybody has an opinion on this style of 'design' please leave your comments below.

Anyway, I will make a tentative start this weekend, I think, and perhaps add a post when I've made a bit of a dent in the job! Don't forget, suggestions on design, planting and gardening in general are most welcome.

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Fragrant Friends

During these months of winter snow and gloom, I find my thoughts turning to next years planting. Although the visual component comes first and foremost when considering which greenery a particular border, bed or pot should contain, it is also important to ensure also that scent is taken into account. I have, therefore, compiled a top ten list of plants of all sizes blessed with fragrant flowers:

1. Buddleia - preferably B. davidii; either 'Empire Blue', blue flowers with an orange eye, or 'Fortune', pure lilac, again with an orange eye. Loved by butterflies.
2. Heliotropium - a bushy half-hardy annual.
3. Freesia - a very sweetly scented bulbous plant, native to South Africa.
4. Gardenia - a tender semi-evergreen flowering shrub.
5. Robinia - pref. R. bispida, a hardy flowering tree or wall grown shrub,
6. Magnolia - another wonderful deciduous species which includes both shrubs and small trees.
7. Lavandula (lavender) - an unforgettable must-have for this list, especially attractive to bees.
8. Iris - a genus of well over 300 plants, small, spreading and easily grown.
9. Lilium (lily) - a personal favourite with innumerable variety. Very robust.
10. Hyacinthus (hyacinth) - delicate, miniature blooms clustered together on a spike.

I hope you like my top ten, but I'm sure you have your own personal preferences. If you would like me to add something to this list, please make a suggestion using the comments box.

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