Don't let the weeds get you down: persistence pays off and once you've gained control hoiking out the occasional weed can be seen as a pleasure, not a chore. Weigh the cardboard down to stop it blowing away.
It has a beneficial effect on soil life, which results in better plants, so is a very desirable addition to the vegetable garden and to potting mixes . Thin layers of glass clippings make excellent mulch It's important to add grass clippings thinly –...
Raised Beds for a Sloping Vegetable Garden Building a terraced vegetable garden is basically making raised beds on a slope, and it's important to start at the bottom and work your way up.
It's been a rough year in many vegetable gardens, but mild autumn days are just around the corner. Sweet Corn Stubble for Fall Crop Protection Every situation doesn't merit wholesale renewal.
I'm very keen to hear how you speed ripening along at the end of the season. Reducing the amount of water you give plants is the best way to ‘stress out' plants. Ripening Tree Fruits Indoors Most tree fruits will naturally ripen up on the tree.
Keep Watering for Best Fruit Quality All vegetables need water, but fruit and pod-producing vegetables are particularly thirsty. Continue Feeding Plants Don't scrimp on feeding your crops.
Not only can it be used to create protective tunnels for the likes of brassicas (for instance to exclude cabbage white butterflies ), it can be turned into a vertical ‘fence' at least 60cm (2ft) high and placed around crops to help foil low-fliers such...
Leave about 18in (45cm) between each seedling. Spring cabbages are sown from the second half of summer to harvest the following year. For lots of gardeners a vegetable plot isn't complete without that ever-dependable staple: cabbage! Shredded into a slaw,...
This can be achieved by framing it with, for example, large terracotta pots bursting with bedding plants, herbs or topiary. They contribute to light pollution and diminish our ability to admire nature's light show, the stars.
Watermelon radishes provide a unique color in the kitchen that's welcome in salads, sandwiches and sushi Thin slices of watermelon radish turn any salad into a rainbow, or you can pickle them to add color and crunch to sandwiches.
Tougher vegetables, such as carrots, need four. It uses 900g (2lb) of the fruits together with a large onion and a cooking apple. Ideally chutneys should be left to mature for at least four months before serving – just long enough to make a batch in...
Avoiding Problems When Growing Rutabagas Like most other root crops, rutabagas need sunny, well-drained soil with a near-neutral pH amended with a modest supply of organic fertilizer or composted manure.
Scrape out the seeds from ripe chili peppers then dry them before storing Saving Pepper & Tomato Seeds The seeds of tomatoes and peppers are ready when the fruits themselves are good for eating.
These issues are heartbreaking when they occur, but the good news is they can usually be avoided by carefully performing one simple annual maintenance task: summer pruning. It's harder for the trees to resist the disease in winter, so again summer pruning...
To speed drying, and ensure a thorough job, start by splitting the just-picked chili peppers in two lengthways. Drying is an excellent way of preserving chilies. Again, a pair of gloves will come in handy for this.
Protecting Seedlings from Drought and Heat Drought can play havoc with seedlings, hampering germination and causing young plants to struggle. Again, take care to water well before laying it.
You can save your own seed potatoes for second cropping by keeping some of your spring seeds back. The easiest way to grow second-crop spuds is in containers . You can also protect plants against light frosts by wrapping the container in layers of corrugated...
Thinning helps to produce bigger, healthier apples How to Thin an Apple Tree So let's show you how to go about thinning an apple tree. Plants Related to this Article Apple (Dwarf) Grow Guide Pear (Dwarf) Grow Guide Plum (Dwarf) Grow Guide < All Guides
Organic insecticidal soap. You can buy them on cards primed with ready-to-hatch pupae to hang up near infected plants. Flowers will help to draw hoverflies and other greenhouse whitefly predators to your garden Other Greenhouse Whitefly Predators If the...
Troubleshooting Onion root maggots can cause plants to collapse. Frost tolerant Yes. Harvesting Harvest in early summer when the tops begin to fail, and the bulbs have divided into several plump bulblets.
Tips: Most conventionally grown cucumbers and melons are grown with dangerous systemic pesticides, so organic pest control is worth the time and effort. Females lay eggs near the base of plants, and the larvae feed on the plants' roots.
Troubleshooting Beware of sleepy bees when pruning or otherwise working with mature borage plants. Crop Rotation Group Miscellaneous ● Soil Any average, well drained soil. Feeding Not generally needed.
Dig and move perennial onions every fall. Tips: Yellow sticky traps or yellow pans of water can be used to monitor and trap onion flies. Be sure to get covers installed early, before the newly emerged adults fly in search of host plants.
Gather stems for drying or steeping into tinctures in early summer, just before the plants bloom. Feeding Not generally required. Locate it where leaves can be conveniently picked, crushed and sniffed.
Tulips bloom at the same time as dogwoods and other spring-flowering trees in most climates. Feeding Topdress with rich compost in spring, when new growth appears. Troubleshooting Tulips are often eaten by deer and squirrels.
Spacing Single Plants: 7" (20cm) each way (minimum) Rows: 7" (20cm) with 11" (30cm) row gap (minimum) Sow and Plant Sow tiny ageratum seeds atop moist seed starting mix and gently press them into the surface.
Troubleshooting Watch for leaf-eating tomato hornworms, and pick them off. Crop Rotation Group Solanaceae (Potato and tomato family) ● Soil Rich soil with plenty of compost mixed in before planting.
