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Roses
Finish pruning your roses as soon as possible and clear away all trimmings and fallen foliage from the soil beneath the bushes. If the foliage shows signs of black or brown spots then do not put the material on your domestic compost heap but dispose of through your municipal site.
When the new red leaves start to open it is extremely beneficial to spray the bush thoroughly with a systemic fungicide to give early protection from blackspot disease. If rose blackspot disease was a particular problem in your garden last year a spraying programme with either RoseClear 3 or FungusClear applied every couple of weeks from late March really is the only way to ensure you have clean bushes that will not shed their foliage early in the year.
Lawn
Heavy winter rains this year have encouraged the spread of moss throughout many lawns. You will notice any moss when you start to mow the grass, whether it's in small patches or spread all over the lawn. Areas that are shaded will be affected most badly and those low-lying spots where water hangs around. Before you try the lawn treatment route to moss control it's well worth trying to reduce the effects of the causes.
In shaded areas try to get rid of the offending plant, fence or obstacle. If that's not possible, then turn that area into more flower beds where you can more easily grow shade-loving plants rather than grass. In low-lying areas try to improve drainage by spiking the surface with a garden fork. Making holes that are at least 10cm (4in) deep will help, especially if they are filled with sharp sand to allow air to the roots.
When you've done everything to beat the causes of moss, then it's time to put on a spring dressing to green the grass and control existing moss. For small lawns it is quick and easy to apply a treatment through a watering can. A box of EverGreen Mosskil Soluble will treat 40sq.m and costs around £4. For larger areas a bag of EverGreen Mosskil or EverGreen Lawn Builder plus Moss Control can be applied through a handy wheeled drop spreader such as Scotts EvenGreen model. Bags to treat 400sq.m of lawn will cost around £25. These lawn products help to control existing moss and give the grass a tonic. A couple of weeks after treatment rake out the dead moss. Once the moss has gone you will notice the obvious bare patches and the thin areas that are short of grass plants. Don't worry - thin lawns and bare patches in a lawn aren't a disaster. Simple first aid this spring will rescue the situation. Rake over the area lightly and treat with EverGreen Lawn Reviver to repair bare patches and to thicken up a thin lawn.
Timely Tips
Cut the grass every 10 days or so gradually reducing the height of cut at each successive mowing. Trim the edges to provide a sharp contrast with surrounding border soil or paths.
Flowers from seeds, cuttings, corms and tubers
Continue to sow seeds of tender bedding plants such as busy lizzies, petunia and other subjects so that you have plenty of young plants for use in flower borders, pots and hanging baskets. Follow the instructions on the packet and use a fresh bag of Levington Seed & Cutting Compost for maximum results.
Garden centres will have on sale small rooted cuttings of fuchsias ready for you to grow on to flowering size. Check the labels for the growth habit of all varieties and their hardiness. Only hardy varieties can be planted directly into garden soil of beds and borders - the rest are tender and will be killed by frosts. Take them home and pot up individually in a size larger pot of fresh Levington Container & Hanging Basket Compost or Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. These nutrient-rich composts and warm indoor temperatures will encourage these plants to grow away quickly and you should pinch out the growing tips occasionally to produce a well branched shape.
Push begonia tubers slightly into the surface of trays of moist Levington Multi-Purpose compost to start them rooting. It's not always easy to be sure which is the right way up, but hopefully they will have a slight indentation in the top so that the tuber is slightly saucer-shaped. Roots should appear from the smooth rounded bottom and the new shoots should develop from the indentation at the top. When they have started to produce fresh green shoots, pot up in individual pots of Levington Container & Hanging Basket Compost ready to be planted out in the garden when frosts have finished. Water the compost from below to avoid wetting the tubers to prevent rots and other plant diseases.
Timely Tips
Plant out gladioli corms at the end of March or beginning of April. To protect the corms from rotting, place a layer of sharp sand in the bottom of planting holes that should be about 15cm deep.
Fruit
Feed all fruit early in spring so that roots can draw on valuable nutrients whenever they come into active growth. While most gardeners treat fruits such as gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries to a yearly feed, few seem to give apples and pear trees any extra feeding at all. Perhaps that's why domestic apple trees fruit poorly or in alternate years. To encourage apples, pears and plums back into growth dress the soil with Osmocote or Miracle-Gro Controlled Release Food. Use a couple of handfuls for every metre height of the tree and spread this evenly under the spread of the branches.
Where fruit trees are growing in the lawn cut back the grass to reveal bare soil below the branches. You will then be able to feed the soil, work over the surface to dig in the fertilizer and then mulch the surface with a decorative bark such as Levington Water Saving Decorative Bark to retain moisture and help prevent weed seedlings.
Timely Tips
Pot up strawberry plants in decorative containers full of Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Compost. Placed on the patio these plants should be well away from slug and snail problems.
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ALWAYS READ THE LABEL. USE PESTICIDES SAFELY
Ant Stop! Bait Station contains fipronil. Ant Stop! contains chlorpyrifos. BugClear and BugClear Gun! contain bifenthrin. FungusClear ™ and FungusClear Gun! contain penconazole. Levington® Container & Hanging Basket Compost with Vine Weevil Control contains imidacloprid. Nature's Answer® Natural Pest Control contains pyrethrins. Roseclear® 3 contains bifenthrin and myclobutanil. Roseclear Gun!® contains bifenthrin and flutriafol. Verdone® Extra and Verdone Extra Ready to Use contain fluroxypyr, clopyralid and MCPA.
® , ™ , Miracle-Gro, Tomorite and Levington are Trade Marks of The Scotts Company or its affiliates. Roundup is the registered Trade mark of Monsanto Company. |
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