Scotts Gardening Diary January 2010

Gardening information from The Scotts Company (UK) Limited

Written by John Clowes

January

In January we all start off with a blank canvas knowing that if we are prepared to invest a little time and money our families will be rewarded with a beautiful garden full of decorative flowers, tasty vegetables and delicious fruit. Positively improving your garden may only be a small step to saving the planet, but the human rewards in health, well-being and satisfaction are beyond price.

The Ornamental Garden

Helping nature to grow a more beautiful garden not only improves your environment; it also has been proved to be beneficial to your mental health. Sowing seeds, nurturing plants and subsequently being rewarded with beautiful flowers, full of colour and scent, is a scientifically sure way of reducing stress and tension in your body. Of course any serious exercise will increase the release of pleasure-producing endorphins – but few of us are dedicated enough to jog regularly or take gym exercises.

That’s where the regular gentle exercise needed to grow and maintain plants at home is much more beneficial. The bending, digging and trimming of plants provides exercise for the muscles and the concentration needed to focus on the “here and now” drives out any worrying thoughts that may be creating tension and stress in the mind.

So I’m urging each and every one of you to start gardening now and feel the benefits straight away. Here’s some initial ideas that can be carried out in January.

1. Plant a new rose tree. Global warming has certainly given us milder winters and in most areas of the country garden soil is rarely frozen hard as stone during January. For best results give the roots of your rose some loving tender care. Make sure the roots are moist – either water the container or soak the bare roots in a bucket of water for a couple of hours before planting. Dig a planting hole that will easily take the roots and improve the soil that you have removed by adding some Levington Rose & Shrub compost and a handful or two of Miracle-Gro Rose Plus granules. If you have no garden soil space or the weather is really cold, then pot up a patio rose bush into a largish container where it will bloom contentedly throughout the summer. For a potted plant buy a container that is at least 25cm diameter and a bag of Levington Rose & Shrub compost in which to plant the rose. So visit your local garden centre and select a rose bush of your favourite colour and you can plant today.

2. Sow some flower seeds. Geraniums need about 20 weeks of growth to get from seed to flowering garden plants, so sowing indoors on a windowsill right now is an economical way to have geranium plants ready for planting out at the end of May. For tip-top results use the best compost you can find. Forget anything labelled “multi-purpose”, but instead find something like Levington Seed & Cutting Compost. It’s high in finely milled peat so you can give your precious seeds the best environment in which to grow. Fill a half tray with compost and press down to form a level surface. Water well and after it has drained for 10 minutes sow the seeds evenly on the surface. Sprinkle on some more compost just enough to cover the seeds (1mm), and place in a clear polythene bag to provide a moist atmosphere. If the temperature is maintained at somewhere between 70-75F (21-24C) you should see new seedlings emerge in around a fortnight. Once germinated, remove the polythene bag and keep the compost moist, not wet.

3. Buy a winter flowering shrub. Go to your garden centre or local nursery and be amazed at the attractive shrubs that are in bloom in the depths of winter. Some flowers may not be big and showy, but some will make up for size with the most amazing perfume. Christmas box (Sarcococca) is highly perfumed and suitable for growing close to the back door or in a pot so it can be moved into position whenever it is in flower. Witch hazels are also highly perfumed, so look out for the latin name Hamamelis and the varieties ‘Pallida’ for lemon yellow spidery flowers and ‘Jalena’ or ‘Orange Beauty’ for rich autumn colours of highly scented blooms. Another useful shrub is Wintersweet (Chimonanthus) with pale yellow to golden orange bell shaped blooms that hang from bare branches. Once established you will be able to keep this rather straggly shrub in shape by cutting a stem pr two to scent a room with delightful perfume.

Topical Tip
Water the soil where tulips are growing with a liquid slug killer such as SlugClear. This will help protect the underground tulip foliage from attack by slugs while it is pale and succulent.

Vegetables

As all the people who started to grow their own vegetables last year for the first time found out – home grown is extremely rewarding. Gardening at home or on an allotment provides great regular exercise, so we all feel fitter and healthier, even the children of the family. It benefits our immediate environment by providing growing plants that trap carbon dioxide, provide food and shelter for wildlife and fantastic crops of fruit and vegetables that provide food for your table. Tasty food and a valuable sharpening of children’s taste buds and their interests.

Suffice it to say that 2010 will see even more people growing fruit and vegetables for the first time and thankfully there is plenty of information around to stimulate interest and pass on expertise to novice gardeners. These monthly notes will provide regular topical information on all aspects of gardening and the up-dated web site at www.lovethegarden.com is full of grow your own advice on timing, culture and helpful products for specific crops. It’s a 24/7 resource that should answer most of your questions and provide an interesting discussion forum where keen gardeners are very willing to pass on tips for even the most complex of gardening questions.

Order seed potatoes now or wait until the end of the month before buying from your garden centre. When you have them at home place the potatoes, rose end up, in a light but cool room, preferably one that isn’t heated. The potatoes will then start to shoot sturdy green stems (it’s called chitting) so they grow faster when planted outside in March or April.

Shallots are a versatile and easily grown vegetable that have a specific role to play in the kitchen when a gentle onion flavour is required.

Unlike onion sets which just grow much bigger when planted in the garden, shallot sets multiply in number, producing six or seven new bulbs where one was planted. During the first half of the year the shallot bulbs multiply steadily and are ready for harvest in mid summer. They are easily stored throughout autumn and winter and provide a store of flavour that is invaluable.

Plant out shallots in shallow drills, leaving a space of around 20cm (8 in) between bulbs in rows 30cm (12 in) apart. Remove any dead foliage from the tops of the bulbs before planting or birds will pull out the bulbs from the earth to use this dried material for their nests.
If you have an unheated greenhouse or cold frame, sow broad bean seed in individual pots of Levington Multi-Pupose Compost and store them under cover. They may take time to germinate in the cold weather of January, but you will have some strong seedlings to plant out in open soil at the beginning of March.

Topical Tip
Protect any brassica crops of cabbages, sprouts or sprouting broccoli with netting strung tautly above top growth to keep hungry pigeons from eating the leaves and ruining the crop with their droppings.

Fruit

There is still time to plant out new fruit trees and bushes during mild spells of weather. Blackcurrants, bluberries, raspberries are all prime candidates – just choose the fruits that your family prefer and plant them in soil that has been improved with an organic soil conditioner such as Miracle-Gro Gro Your Own Soil Improver. This new product is designed for enriching existing soil in beds, borders and vegetable patches. It contains enough organic nutrients to feed plants for up to 6 weeks and any left over will help you to grow a great crop of potatoes.

Topical Tip
If apple and pear trees are growing untidily, cut back stems to keep the growth within reasonable perameters. While you have the secateurs to hand take out any dead or diseased stems and saw out stems that are crossing.

Lawns

Your lawn is a great contributor to the welfare of the environment.  When grouped together with the millions of other grass patches tended in gardens today they absorb 0.5 tonnes of carbon per acre per year. That’s a net reduction in carbon emissions from a great play area that can look great and that acts as an interesting foil to colour flower borders. A well tended lawn will also absorb heat and prevent wasteful water run off.

As grass now seems to grow throughout the year, it can soon grow long in patches and look untidy during winter. To keep the grass length reasonable and the visual look smooth, a mid-winter cut during a mild spell in January is a valuable job. Best results at this time of the year will be achieved if you can cut the grass on a dry afternoon when the dew has dried. Cutting dry grass will help to reduce the clogging effect of wet grass often experienced with cyclinder mowers. Although if you have chosen to have a mower with a rotary blade these make short work of tidying up grass that is long or wet.

Topical Tip
During frosty weather, try to keep everyone off the grass. Trampling over a lawn that is white with ice crystals will bruise the grass leaves and leave behind dark footprints that will be visible for a couple of months.

Patio Gardening

While most plants are dormant, it’s a good time to prune back rampant climbers to reduce leaf growth and to ensure they bloom well. Wisteria sinensis is one such climber that demands this sort of attention if it is to provide a mass of flower-trails. Left to its own devises wisteria can turn into a mass of green leaves that carry very little flower. To encourage plenty of flowers cut back any main stems that are not needed to build up the framework and cut back all the sideshoots to about 8 - 10cm (3 – 4in). Do this now while the plant is dormant.

The tangled growth of late flowering clematis can also be cut back to within a few inches of the soil, thus encouraging strong new shoots and taking away any growth that continues to carry any powdery mildew on the dead leaves.

Houseplants

Many people will have received mixed bowls of houseplants as gifts at Christmas time. But few of them last long as they are usually killed by kindness – too much water, given too frequently.

The traditional mixture of attractive foliage plants and pretty flowering ones always look good, but are difficult to look after. For one thing the different plants usually have different requirements for water and another is that they are almost always planted into containers without any drainage holes so that they can be placed on any piece of furniture. Without drainage holes any excess water collects in the bottom of the bowl and this will drive out all air from the compost. The result is drowning at the roots and eventually the death of the plants.

Careful watering is the answer. Wait until the surface of the compost is dry and then water thoroughly. Use enough water to thoroughly wet the growing media and leave this to soak for ten minutes or so. Drain any excess water from the bowl by tipping it sideways and then leave the compost without further watering until the surface dries out again.

To completely avoid the problem many people will pull apart the bowl and plant up each plant into individual pots with drainage holes. Use fresh Levington Houseplant Compost or Miracle-Gro Potting Mix and clean plastic pots large enough to take the roots. To display your plants in an attractive and healthy way, group the pots on a waterproof tray filled with gravel or decorative stones. If you keep these stones moist you will create a beneficial moist atmosphere around the plant and avoid the problems of dry air, often noticed as brown edges to leaves.

Grouping plants helps to provide this moist atmosphere and regular misting with plain water over the leaves will also help to keep them cool. Do not mist over hairy or sensitive plants such as African violets, succulents and cacti.

There is little change you can make to the temperature in different rooms. Personal comfort in the home comes before plant well being. If you find you have plants that resent high temperatures try to find them a cooler spot in the house, perhaps trying the bathroom or a bedroom.

Like all living things, plants need to be fed when they are actively growing. Fresh compost will only feed for a few weeks, so supplementary feeding is soon essential. Most people prefer a liquid plant food that they can dilute when they water. Use one such as Miracle-Gro Pour & Feed that contains all the nutrients and trace elements plants need to thrive. Just add a capful once a month to the compost so that it is fed for several weeks.

Established houseplants can occasionally be infested with sap-sucking pests that are difficult to eradicate with traditional plant sprays. Scale insects and mealy bugs can often be found on the underside of decorative leaves and red spider mite, whitefly and greenfly will be breeding like crazy on the soft new growth of stems and flower buds. Clearing them from your decorative pot plants is dead easy thanks to the clever scientists who have given us systemic insecticides that can be absorbed by plant roots and flow inside the sap stream to control all sap-sucking pests. All you need to do is buy a card of BugClear Ultra for Pots and push one or two of the spikes into the compost in which the affected plants are growing. The spike contains the insecticide to give protection from these pests for between 2 and 3 months and at the same time it contains enough slow release plant food to feed for a similar time. It’s worth noting that while ideal for indoor pot plants this clever dual-action plant treatment can also be used on decorative pot plants growing outside.

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ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
BugClear Ultra for Pots contains acetamiprid. SlugClear contains metaldehyde.

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