Digging, Daffs & a Dismal Display...

With the weather still doing its best to keep the soil in the garden and on the allotment a bit too wet to work, I am beginning to panic about getting the allotments dug over. For a few days the ground began to dry up and then more rain fell! My back will certainly be tested as I try to get the digging completed through this month, so that sowing can begin in March!

For now, Mrs McGregor and I are still enjoying our home grown winter vegetables as well as the sprouting broccoli which is now producing plenty of spears that can be cut and thrown into a steamer until tender – delicious! The thought of another season of tasty, home grown vegetables and all the ways to use them, spurs me on to keep digging, raking, sowing and weeding through the year. 

Much of the garden is still a mass of brown twigs and jumbled protective growth that I have left on the plants in case of hard weather. It is now time to prune my Clematis back to a few inches from the ground; each stem to a pair of healthy buds that are beginning to swell ready to grow away and produce the frame for beautiful flowers later in the summer.  We have a small pine tree in a corner of the garden and one of the Clematis scrambles through it to provide extra interest. I enjoy pruning the Clematis back and pulling with all my strength to bring down last year’s growth from the tree so that it can be chopped up and added to the compost heap! Sadly the tree will shortly become too tall, too close to the house, so we will take it down later this summer and the Clematis will have to content itself with the garden fence behind in subsequent years!

I planted lots more spring bulbs last autumn and the Daffodils are beginning to push through the soil and grow at an alarmingly fast rate. My Crocus have not made a good display – just a few rich orange and black flowers but many have not appeared at all. I think the problem may be mice or voles and our cat is now too old and well fed to be motivated to help out with pest control, so the culprits would appear to have got away with it for now! 

You may remember that there was much excitement in the McGregor household when the early Daffodils ‘Rinjveld’s Early Sensation’ flowered at the end of November. They have not produced many flowers this year and are somewhat buried under the Box balls in one border. I think they are congested, too dry and need a bit more light; the leaves are very healthy and copious but no flower buds. I will make sure that I lift the clumps and divide them before the leaves die back, so that they can be replanted around the garden in different spots to light up the winter borders once again.

Keeping Busy...(always jobs to do!)

Firstly I would like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year and look forward to a successful gardening year! My first wish has to be for the ground to dry up so that I can catch up with digging on my allotment, which is now badly behind schedule. Last year was the same; I had to spend some long hours digging in February to catch up. Ideally I will get one of my two plots single dug. I start by taking out a trench to a spade’s depth and moving the soil from this to the other end of the plot in my wheelbarrow. Any debris and annual weeds are then skimmed off the top of what will become the next trench and buried, face down in the bottom of the first trench. These are then covered with the soil from what will become the second trench and so on. Any perennial weed roots such as Couch Grass and Dock Leaves should be removed and burned, but not composted. The soil should be left in large clods and can be broken down to form a ‘tilth’ with some vigorous raking nearer to the time of sowing and planting. My second plot will be used to grow potatoes and later crops, such as squashes and runner beans. I like to manure the ground for these when I plant them out so the soil does not need to be prepared so far in advance!

Philadelphus SilberregenI have managed to spend some time in the garden this week and pruned some of my shrubs. We have a Parrotia persica (Persian Ironwood) which will eventually become far too large for the space it occupies, but it is one of my favourite large shrubs with beautiful orange and red autumn colours and small red flowers through the winter on the bare, grey branches. Left to its own devices, Parottia makes a wide spreading shrub or small tree, so I have to prune off branches every so often to keep it in bounds! My Cornus (Dog Woods) were all pruned hard back to a basic framework last winter, so will not need any attention now. They continue to light up the garden with their sealing wax red and olive green stems that give a good vertical accent.

Philadelphus are some of my favourite summer flowering shrubs with their creamy white flowers scented of orange blossom. It is easier to see the shape of these and other deciduous shrubs at this time of the year and a light prune to tidy them is a good idea.  The Holly was given a trim just before Christmas and I will tidy up other evergreens later in the spring, when they begin to grow again. My ornamental Grape vine Vitis vinifera ‘Purpurea, grew really well last year and I have pruned it back to a basic framework. Each shoot has been taken back to four buds and some of the weaker growth removed. My Clematis are looking very untidy, but I must be patient and wait until next month before giving them their annual haircut!

Mr McGregor

In the Garden

The weather over the past few months has been splendid and I have been enjoying some wonderful weekends in the garden. Not only have I been tidying up borders and mowing the lawn, I have been entertaining family and friends by serving up, if I do say so myself, my best barbecue dishes. I think I have truly surpassed my barbecuing techniques (I might be blowing my own trumpet now), but I’m very proud of myself.

However, as the early flowering perennials have begun to stop flowering I’m going to be spending my time pruning them back to the base and hope I get a second round of flowering. With the spring starting to turn into the summer season, I can now begin to fill my borders with some summer plants that will really bring a burst of colour into the garden. I’m really looking forward to getting my clematis, pansies, marigolds and busy lizzies planted up as I’m sure they’re going to look magnificent.

Mrs McGregor’s roses are wonderfully trained up to the trellis, but to encourage further blooms I will deadhead a few of them and try not to go overboard. I will have to keep a watchful eye on them as during this time of year roses are prone to insects and diseases. Luckily there are no signs yet, but if you have noticed anything make sure you act quickly and treat them with a fungicide or systemic insecticide.

Other Gardening Jobs on My To-Do List

• ·         Feed fuchsias weekly to encourage growth and flowering
• ·         Continue to weed (my favourite job of all)
• ·         Prune forsythia, weigla, philadephus and pieris
• ·         Dig up and divide primulas

There is a lot to do in the garden this month and if the weather continues like this Mrs McGregor is sure to have a challenge getting me to come inside.

With my to-do list complete, I better hop to it!

Mr McGregor

Clematis: A talk by Raymond Evison

For all of you gardening fanatics and Clematis lovers, we are happy to announce that Raymond Evison OBE will be visiting two of our garden centres on 18^th and 19^th June. The topic of choice is our beloved Clematis, a plant multiple Gold Medal winner at Chelsea, Raymond knows oh to well, as the owner of The Guernsey Clematis Nursey Ltd.

The nursery is the leading producer of young clematis plants in the world. Not only does Raymond have his very own nursery that specialises in young varieties, he also has a joint venture with Poulsen Roser A/S that breeds and develops new Clematis for indoor and outdoor planting.

Raymond first became interested in the great Clematis at the tender age of 16 and since then has built upon his expertise.

On 18^th June Raymond Evison will be visiting our Norwich garden centre and will be hosting two talks throughout the course of the day (11am and 2pm). The next day (19^th June) Raymond will travel to the Wheatcroft garden centre to give his talks (also at 11am and 2pm). The talks will cover a variety of topics including:

• The latest varieties of clematis
• The clematis seasons
• Perfect partners for clematis
• Planting clematis in a container
• Pruning and feeding clematis

 These events are a great opportunity  to learn more about the beautiful Clematis from the world’s leading breeder. Numbers are limited so please book at the garden centre. For the Norwich event call 01603 453155 or email norwich@notcutts.co.uk. For the Wheatcroft event Call 01159 216060 or email info@wheatcroftgc.co.uk. 

Don’t miss this fantastic event,

Notcutts

Our Favourite Clematis

The Clematis is one of the most beautiful blooms that cover our gardens during the spring season. It is a favourite among many, including Mr McGregor and you can understand why; there is a great variety to choose from including various types of hybrid species.

What is even more perfect is that it won’t take you long to find the plant you desire; it is every garden centres’ best seller and love to offer you as many types as possible. We here at Notcutts are proud of our range, offering you early flowering, hybrid species and late flowering Clematis.

During this season we will be seeing some magnificent displays of the large flowered hybrids, joined by the sweeping stems of the smaller Montanas, which will smother themselves with their blooms. You have an exceptional choice when you come to Notcutts online or at your local Notcutts Garden Centres, and no one can deny the beauty some of the late breeds we can offer your garden.

Our favourite Clematis is the “Nelly Moser”, boasting striped flowers which you’ll find included in most Clematis. It is just one among the first group of large flowered hybrids, which commences flowering as early as May, continuing for many weeks and followed up by yet another splash in late summer.

If you would like to find out more about this incredible plant and want to see what tips we have to offer you, take a look at our Garden Library. You will find a wealth of knowledge that will help grow your garden and vegetable patch into a blooming wonderland.

Notcutts