Climate change

End March 2007

Well what a weekend...weather was glorious. Hope it continues at least for a wee while whilst i get everything done.

I spent the whole weekend in the garden trying to get caught up a bit. The soil was in a good workable state, excellent for sowing and planting.

I managed to get some vegetables sown in the seed bed and i've also put in shallots, really felt good to be getting things in. Still to pop my tatties in and hopefully if the weather continues i'll get these in next weekend. Also been sowing lots in trays and managed to get the impatiens pricked out too. They look better already.

The weed seeds were starting to germinate and whilst it narks that they're back, it's better to get on top now before they get a grip. I managed to clear a small bed and a big bed, but still a bit more to do just now. Also planted some primulas and transplanted some tete-a-tete daffodils i'd been growing in pots, made it look a bit more colourful until the other plants catch up.

The grass has fair grown and could do with a haircut. I heard my neighbours firing up their mowers today but i've decided that can be done in the lighter nights in the week if the weather holds. I wanted to get to grips with things that needed a good four hours or so to get done.

I managed to get a bit of time sat in the garden whilst taking a break and sowing seeds in trays. Must say it was really nice sitting in the heat of the sun and just potting up and sowing seeds. The birds seemed busy nest building and the whole day had a peaceful feel to it...but the type that you only get in Spring. The calmness and freshness just before everything erupts and goes daft.

I noticed one of my cats had found herself a prime spot for sleeping in the sun....the water feature! She's known for getting in odd places such as bathroom sinks for a snooze but this has to be the weirdest place as yet I've found her. Before she'd decided to take a siesta she'd been busy running around the garden letting her daft out...usually a sign that spring is nearly here.

I also managed to get my Fatsia Japonica repotted into a much larger pot. It had been in it's previous pot three years and I felt that it needed a bit more room. When the root ball was revealed I seemed to have got it right, so hopefully it's new pot will be it's home for another three years. Not sure what i'll do with it after that as it will be some size of root ball. Will have two choices which will be to root prune it or plant it in the garden. It's not that hardy for the climate this far north so not sure this is a good idea, just in case we do have a really hard Winter one year. At least with a pot I can put it under cover, never mind have three years to decide.

Organic Wars....? You decide.

Mid March 2007

More seedlings to prickout and grow on, this time Impatiens....hopefully will stay fair at the weekend despite the forecast of snow. Potted on my geraniums and keeping them warm in the guest bathroom at the mo until the weather settles a bit, they look ok and hopefully they will settle down and make strong plants.

Popped to the garden centre on Sunday, managed to get some compost, several lots of plants for the garden, oh and yet more onion sets for the garden...just couldn't resist the display of colours and primulas. Just had to buy some. However, these are still to be planted.

Also assessing the front garden and need to get some more spring colour into it. I might make another trip at the weekend and get some daffies etc to plug the gaps in colour. The daffies that are in the garden haven't flowered so well this year. They have put out leaf but not many flowers, having researched this it look like it's been too warm for them, apparently they like a set period of cold for them to flower successfully.

The Peonies are starting to grow quite quickly now and
putting on growth daily. The longer daylight hours are starting to make a difference. I popped the supports on so that the Peonies will quickly obscure these when grown through and in leaf. These are definitely needed due to the weight of the flower heads, particualarly if they are wet. Nothing looks sadder than a drooping peony.

My Kiwi Jenny plant has started to break bud and forming leaves. Over winter it's just looked like a stick. I'm not hopeful given the climate this far North that this will fruit but i understand that the leaves are pretty and a bonus is the sweet (rose-like) scent from the flowers which are highly scented in Mid-June. I'm trialling this for Blackmoor Fruit so will be interested to see how it fares this far North. This new hardy variety is self-fertile and produces fruit abundantly in November. Thankfully they like moist conditions.

Well here's to the weekend and some good gardening weather...hope to be planting whatever it does.

Springs on it's way!

Spring is well and truly on it's way and the plants are echoing this by starting to grow with the longer days. Managed to get out in the garden last week and make a start and it felt really good to get out there again. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm until 4pm when a fleece jacket made it comfortable. I managed to stay in the garden until the light started fading at 6pm.

Made a start on the front garden and started getting it into shape for the Spring/Summer. Cut the grass, edged it and weeded the borders around the edge. Looked a lot smarter! Just need to weed and feed the grass.

I cut rose bushes back very hard and whilst doing so i noticed that greenfly was already evident on the buds. An indication of just how warm the winter has been as this far north i don't see these until much later in the year...time to get out the soapy spray already.

Plug plants have started arriving and Geraniums are resting in the Utility room after there journey from Jersey. More to come. This is the first time i've used Jersey Plants and very pleased with condition and stage of growth. The plants look very healthy and the price was reasonable too, will definitely buy from them again. Must get these potted on tomorrow and will harden off in about four to six weeks for going outside.

I am planning to start sowing my seeds during the week. Have been making lots more paper pots and they are everywhere. Just need to get my compost ready and will start sowing in earnest.

Usually start beetroot off in modules and pot them on until before they start expanding. Starting off this year in paper pots and growing in the cold frames i've recently sited before planting them out under cloches in rows. Hopefully the paper pots will reduce the amount of root disturbance which can occur with the modules, that said I've found this to be a very good way to get beetroot growing.

Need to get my cloches made to warm up the soil. Have got some alkathene water pipe which i'll cut to size and put short lengths of bamboo in the ends and then insert these into the ground. Cover with polythene and hey presto....cloches and a lot cheaper.

March 2007

March was off to a flying start with a Lunar eclipse on 3rd/4th.

During "totality" the Moon took on a reddish hue; the only light reaching its surface by this stage had been filtered through the Earth's atmosphere. The copper-red Moon was visible across large areas of the UK.

The eclipse was visible from the whole of Europe, Africa, South America, and eastern parts of the US and Canada. Although eastern Australia, Alaska and New Zealand missed out on this total lunar eclipse, they will be able to see the next one, due to take place on 28 August.

I managed to get some pics from a webcast....so here's the whole event in a few minutes....enjoy!



After Saturday's eclipse, the next to be seen over western Europe will take place on 21 February 2008, but late in the night between 0300 GMT and 0400 GMT.

So what has all this to do with gardening and growing? Well there has been a long held belief that plants are tuned into the Lunar cycle. Some folk even practice lunar gardening. This isn't just superstition either, there seems to be some scientific basis on which to support this. If we think about it, man has long been ruled by the sun and moon. Long before mechanical time pieces came into being this was our clock. It would seem reasonable, therefore, to assume that plants also use the sun and moon as their timepieces. I haven't tried Lunar Gardening myself but would like to test the theory out next year to see what effect it has, afterall how many 'man made' things can you think of that follow a lunar cycle?