Ampleforth & District Gardening Club
The web site for gardeners in and around Ampleforth
Some of us are experiencing problems with rabbits eating our prize plants. It isn’t always possible to rabbit proof our entire gardens, so here are some plants that they don’t usually eat.
Rabbits really love clover, so keep some in your lawn and they might leave the other plants alone.
June is the month for roses. All of these repeat flower, so keep deadheading and feeding them regularly and they should keep going into autumn .
Back in March we bought some Mo Bacter to treat moss in the lawn following the recommendation of the speaker on “Lawns Who Needs Them” at (what turned out to be) our last meeting. Well we are very pleased with the results after only one application. We should really have taken before and after photos, but here are a couple taken the other day. The big advantage was no black mess and no raking. There were just light brown patches for a short time but the grass soon pushed through and all done organically. It is working too on moss on the drive.
As we all start growing our giant sunflowers – helianthus giant single, here are some tips to get going.
Sow the seeds directly into the soil (well prepared of course!) in full sun. To get a really big plant, water and feed it regularly. Composted rabbit droppings are supposed to be the best feed, but Miraclegrow will probably do. You could win £10 for growing the one with the largest circumference.
It’s the 19th of May. This should be Chelsea Flower Show week, so it’s time for the Chelsea Chop. This allows you to control the size and shape of some perennials and to encourage more flowers. Just cut the foliage back and let them re-grow. Plants such as phlox, achillia, campanula, asters, sedums and many more really benefit from this. Water and feed after cutting.
We have no idea when we can hold our Plant Sale again, but let’s get started.
Divide clumps of herbaceous perennials that you want to propagate. Bamboos and clumps of bulbs or rhizomes can be divided in the same way. While cutting back clumps of spring-flowering perennials such as Pulmonaria and Doronicum to encourage a fresh flush of foliage, take a few cuttings.
Divide Primula (primroses) after flowering, planting them in a nursery bed until they are ready for planting out again in the autumn, for a display the following spring. Or grow some in pots.
Divide hostas as they come into growth.
If you grow Hostas in pots, it’s time for slug control. To keep them from climbing into the pots, either rub vaseline round the brim of the pot or spray round the pot with WD40. It works!