Green Fingers: Getting into gear for the Spring
Having good quality soil is very important. Stock image
Gardening is or should be fun and satisfying, and therefore, carried out in reasonably pleasant conditions, so it follows that for periods during the winter little or no time is spent outside.
But, in the last few weeks as it has been both dry and warm, it gave us all an opportunity to get out and start the preparation work for the season ahead.
There is no doubt that good soil conditions are a key to successful growing, the trouble is, many soils that homeowners are given are far from ideal and unless you know what you have, it can be a hit and miss affair for many years, without really knowing what the problem is.
Generally soil should be free-draining and have a brown colour and from this you can grow most plants, the exception being that there are some plants that like acid conditions, but this only occurs in certain parts of the country and your local garden centre will be able to give you guidance on this.
After that if you grow plants that take nutrients out of the ground in the form of vegetables, flowers and fruit, the soil will then need feeding in the form of farm yard manure or compost before the next crop and these materials will improve the soil also.
Granular feed in various forms will sort the food requirement but not the soil conditions.
There are not many weeds around now as the seeds are just waiting for warmer conditions to geminate and the perennial weeds such as docks, nettles, couch (scotch) grass and bindweed are mostly hiding below ground out of sight but, there may be signs above ground and then you can dig them up and remove any roots you find there leaving the area clean.
Then there may be the usual additional suspects of brambles and ivy creeping in and there is no easy way to get rid of them except physically removing the roots.
Weeding is a constant occupation but, it need not be that dreadful or difficult if you spend some time at it now and then.
Flowers come in all shapes and sizes, from the dwarf patio plants right up to those that grow to around 1m (3’), ideal for impact and also indoor decoration.
We must not forget the flowering trees and shrubs that once planted give annual colourful displays for years without much aftercare.
For super scented flowers we always grow a line of sweet peas, which grow up netting attached to a warm sunny wall and we have flowers for months until the frost.
It is fun to grow some food even if it is just a few herbs like parsley, sage and bay leaf.
After that the amount and what you grow depends on the available space and what you want to do and the possibilities are large.
While we avoid large growing vegetables like cabbage and Swedes, and limit our potatoes to a few early varieties we do grow in the open-salads, onions, beans (four types), beetroot, spinach (two types) and carrots.
Then under protection we grow aubergines, peppers and chillies, tomatoes and cucumbers.
