After a very busy enjoyable 6 weeks working on various projects from Planting private gardens to designing St. Michael College new interactive classroom garden, working on Foxrock Tidplanting upgrades, y Towns installing the new planters in Foxrock Village and finishing the upgraded planting schemes with a blast of 400 pink Geraniums, I am back in the office again!
The sun has been splitting the stones outside and everyone is delighted that maybe the sun is here for the long haul. Temperatures are set to rise for the next few days so bear in mind that your plant pots, newly planted flowers and vegetables and not to forget your tomato plants will need watering and feeding in the evening when the sun goes down. Watering in the evening will avoid scorching the plants. There will be a surge in growth over the next few days due to the moist soil and the rise in temperature so gardeners beware!
Here are a few jobs that you could be getting on with while pottering around on these warm hazy summer evenings to keep your garden looking good:-
1. Using a hand fork dig out stubborn perennial weeds like dandelion and Bindweed, removing all roots, Use a hoe to remove annual weeds like Speedwell, Bittercress and Chickweed shallow rooting plants. Remember these weeds are competing with your beautiful flowering plants, they steal their light, water and nutrients so regular weeding will reduce their growth in the garden
The sun has been splitting the stones outside and everyone is delighted that maybe the sun is here for the long haul. Temperatures are set to rise for the next few days so bear in mind that your plant pots, newly planted flowers and vegetables and not to forget your tomato plants will need watering and feeding in the evening when the sun goes down. Watering in the evening will avoid scorching the plants. There will be a surge in growth over the next few days due to the moist soil and the rise in temperature so gardeners beware!
Here are a few jobs that you could be getting on with while pottering around on these warm hazy summer evenings to keep your garden looking good:-
1. Using a hand fork dig out stubborn perennial weeds like dandelion and Bindweed, removing all roots, Use a hoe to remove annual weeds like Speedwell, Bittercress and Chickweed shallow rooting plants. Remember these weeds are competing with your beautiful flowering plants, they steal their light, water and nutrients so regular weeding will reduce their growth in the garden
2. Water and feed plant pots well in the evening to prevent scorching of leaves. Dead head flowering bedding to encourage new blooms
3. If you find it hard to keep your baskets well watered, Take hanging baskets down and sit them in a deep bucket full of water to give them a good soak overnight, keeping all foliage out of the water, dead head any flowers that have finished encouraging new blooms
4. Continue mowing the lawn regularly, lawns are actively growing due to moist soil levels and increased temperatures
5. Help climbers along by attaching them to new section of trellis and encouraging growth in new directions
6. Finish pruning any spring flowering shrubs .Prune deciduous Magnolia once tree is in full leaf.
7. Clip Box hedging or other hedging that has had a growth surge
8. Stake tall perennials that have fallen over in the wind last week or have become top heavy with blooms
9. Harvest summer greens such as Lettuce, Rocket , Spinach and Radishes
10. Keep tomatoes well feed and watered, pinching outside shoots as they appear, tie up and stake as required.
11. Check Roses for signs of black spot, mildew and aphid infection and treat.
9. Harvest summer greens such as Lettuce, Rocket , Spinach and Radishes
10. Keep tomatoes well feed and watered, pinching outside shoots as they appear, tie up and stake as required.
11. Check Roses for signs of black spot, mildew and aphid infection and treat.
Enjoy the good weather and the long evenings. Happy gardening!