My Garden: 14th April 2015

If you look at the back of your seed packets you'll find that March planting is suggested for most spring sown vegetables. Except for a few hardy plants (peas and beans) and those who have to get a headstart indoors (tomatoes and peppers), I've given up on March planting. I now prefer to wait until April, when it has warmed up, and put my seedlings outdoors. I find it a delicate operation keeping young seedlings adequately watered without drowning or droughting (did I make that word up?) them, and having them outdoors is a much more natural environment that, unless the weather is extreme, has a good balance of rain and sun. Of course you must keep an eye on the weather because frost can still strike, and put the seedlings under cover on a particularly cold night.

Some lonely looking coriander and dill seedlings:



I've used the shelves from a redundant cheap greenhouse as support for my broad beans but burying them in the ground. You can see my brussels sprouts in the background:



Here are some plants, two of which I raised from my own seed saved from last years crop. A few days later they were eaten by my pet rabbit! I covered them with net and they are sprouting again.

My lavender is beginning to form flowers. I bought it as a plant from a garden centre last summer so this year will be a real test of the quality of the blooms. I've given it some comfrey feed. Lavender loves full sun and this plant gets the morning sun, up until around 2pm so I hope it is enough. I must look into dividing the plant so I can relocate some of it to the opposite wall, which gets the afternoon sun. It will be interesting to see the difference. Listening to an episode of Gardener's Question Time (BBC 4 Radio) I hear one of the panel members suggesting that I snip off the early flower buds as it will lead to twice as many blooms.

Below are a selection of cuttings given to me by my kind auntie. There are a selection of heathers with, what I think is, Elaeagnus Gilt Edge is in the back. I am keeping them watered in the greenhouse until I decide what to do with them.

My comfrey plant which dies back to nothing every winter has bounded back. I must start pulling leaves off and making some homemade fertiliser. I will also add some to the compost bin as it speeds up the decomposition process. 

These are two pear trees. The one in the foreground is a Williams which I planted as a year old tree about three or four years ago. It needed a pollinator and I didn't get around to getting it a mate until last winter, namely the Conference in the back ground. The older tree has gotten unkempt so I must prune it. I've been reading up on summer and winter pruning. I think I will do nothing until next winter, incase I affect my chances of getting any fruit this year. I have really ignored the possibilities of growing fruit in my garden and it is time to set that right.

A few pak choi seedlings:

My father has kindly built me this clever bench using only few pieces of wood. It is supposed to be for my plant pots but it may become a reading seat as it is positioned perfectly to receive that rich evening sunshine:

Purple sprouting broccoli is still going strong. I have started blanching and freezing it into bags as the temperatures are rising and it will go to seed soon:

And thus concludes the highlights of my garden as it stands!