Flower Garden Jobs

• Take cuttingsfrom shrubs including pyracantha, cotinus, hypericum, potentilla, honeysuckle, ivy, hydrangea, spiraea and rosemary
• Prune out plain green shoots from variegated trees and shrubs
• Cut lavender for drying when in full flower
• Cut back pansies that look straggly to encourage new growth
• Shorten half the shoots on broom and genista to encourage new growth
• Plant autumn-flowering bulbs such as nerines, colchicums, sternbergia, autumn crocuses and Amaryllis belladonna
• Spray roses with fungicide to prevent mildew and blackspot
• Propagate climbers like wisteria and passion flower by layering. Bend low shoots to soil level and peg them down, making a slit in the portion buried to encourage rooting. this can also be done in pots.
• Pick off any lily bulbils forming on the stems and pot them up

The Fruit and Vegetable jobs

• Harvest onions sown last autumn for early crops
• Water celery regularly in dry weather
• Bury shoot tips of blackberries and peg them down to raise new plants
• Prune out about a quarter of the oldest branches on blackcurrants
• Spray potatoes and outdoor tomatoes with Bordeaux mixture to prevent blight
• Thin heavy fruit crops, picking off the smallest. Aim to leave developing fruits about 10-15cm apart along the stems, perhaps thinning congested spurs down to just a single fruit
• Sow seed of herbs now, including basil, parsley and coriander
• Sow vegetable seeds now,  including endive, lettuce and salad leaves, beetroot, radishes, spring cabbages, kohl rabi, Swiss chard, winter spinach, Oriental greens, chicory, spring onions, swede, turnips for green tops

Greenhouse Jobs

• Water tomatoes regularlyto prevent fruit splitting and blossom end rot
• Feed tomato crops with a high-potash tomato fertiliser every week
• Be on the lookout for aphids, vine weevils and other pests
• Ventilate daily and add extra shading if temperatures are getting too high
• Sow primulas, calceolaria, cineraria and cyclamen
• Pinch out sideshoots on tomatoes
• Pot up houseplants that have become top heavy or pot bound
• Take leaf cuttings from houseplants including Begonia rex, African violets, streptocarpus, crassula and kalanchoe
• Pick peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other greenhouse crops regularly to encourage further flowers to develop

Generally

• Water tomatoes regularly to prevent fruit splitting and blossom end rot
• Feed tomato crops with a high-potash tomato fertiliser every week
• Be on the lookout for aphids, vine weevils and other pests
• Ventilate daily and add extra shading if temperatures are getting too high
• Sow primulas, calceolaria, cineraria and cyclamen
• Pinch out sideshoots on tomatoes
• Pot up houseplants that have become top heavy or pot bound
• Take leaf cuttings from houseplants including Begonia rex, African violets, streptocarpus, crassula and kalanchoe
• Pick peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other greenhouse crops regularly to encourage further flowers to develop

Have a lovely week whatever your garden looks like and don’t forget to join me on Phoenix FM next sunday 10 am to 12 noon. Also my blog at www.babicz.com contains lots more information.

Andrew