This week’s update comes with a caveat… I shall NOT be mentioning the weather, no matter how much I want to. Oh damn, I’ve inadvertently mentioned it already! Moving swiftly on…
Despite the less than favourable conditions, there have been some slightly brighter moments which have meant that the never ending list of gardening jobs for April has actually got a touch shorter (before I’ve then added more!) At the end of last week I posted a video to my Instagram page that showed the difference between just 7 days in the garden. It’s as though the garden has suddenly been given an energy boost, with the bulbs popping at every turn and the distant summer showing glimmers around the corner!
One of those quintessential summer moments for us, is the taste of a strawberry, warm and freshly plucked off the plant – it doesn’t get a lot better than that I don’t think. We’ve usually got a few odd pots of plants growing in various sections of the garden but this week I’ve planted up some runners that I potted up last year and kept in the greenhouse over winter, so I’m hoping for a more bountiful harvest this year. That said, I distinctly remember that last year I didn’t get much of a look in between my daughters eating them and the birds having the rest!
Things are getting serious with the dahlias, and I’d estimate that about half are putting on growth and the other half surely aren’t far behind. Now that they’ve got shoots, I’ve evicted them to the greenhouse, where they’ll stay until I’m confident the last frost has passed. After that they’ll be put in the ground in their final growing positions for the year ahead. I can’t quite believe that it’s April and that in all likelihood, we’ll be seeing the last frost by around the end of the month (in Birmingham anyway!). Tell me, how are your dahlias doing?
A quick wonder around the garden this past weekend showed me that the hostas are emerging from their slumber, and they’ll be ready for the slugs to destroy soon! Of course, I hope that doesn’t happen, but there’s every chance that it will! Slugs just love hostas more than almost anything else, but I’m going to be treating the soil with nematodes to hopefully keep them at arms length! I’ve always admired hostas in other people’s gardens, but they’ve never featured heavily here, that was until last year when I treated myself to a few bare roots, and I’m so glad they’re doing well!
And, as is customary – it’s a new week and that can only mean one thing – a new podcast guest! This week I’m joined by organic horticulturalist and designer, Nicola Hope. Nikki started her gardening live by working at Highgrove, the then home of King Charles (Prince Charles in those days!) and has developed a passion for the organic way of life. You can listen to Nicola and all past guests, here now!
This week we’re not really venturing far away from home as my guest is also a fellow West Midlands dweller! Jenn is a gardener with a passion for growing trees and over on her Instagram grid (@jenn_taft) you’ll see the many many many that she’s growing from seed right now. You name it, then Jenn is probably growing it and as part of this mission she’ll be sharing seedlings with schools and charities, but I’ll let her tell you more about that now!
“My biggest love in the garden is growing trees from seed, specifically trees that are native to the U.K. My hundreds of tree seeds have been outside in big tubs, stratifying naturally over the winter months. I have acorns, conkers, sycamore helicopters and apple seeds, all enjoying the cold weather and using that period of dormancy to their growing advantage. This week has seen a real turning point for those seeds. Since the new year my horse chestnut conkers have been putting their strong roots below the surface, but now they are putting their palm-tree-looking leaves above ground too.
The apple seeds germinate as soon as they feel a degree more warmth in their surroundings! I have at least 40 seedlings in the garden at present that are growing strong – these trees will be making their way to schools and charities for some community growing. If you want to try growing trees from seed, apples are definitely the seeds to try! The majority of my acorns have roots but only a small number have started to grow a shoot. These tiny oak trees are my favourite (don’t tell the others!), especially as last year’s saplings started their lives on my sons’ windowsill, proving to us all that growing trees indoors could be a successful venture.
The other tiny tree seedlings currently in the garden are foxglove trees, goji berries, acers, and Japanese maples. And where do we put them all? I promise we don’t have a forest for a garden! Most of our trees are a year old and are in pots, and I’m looking forward to potting on my flower seedlings around those trees, giving both the trees and flowers a great growing environment. I will be sowing lemon seeds as the summer arrives. These seeds are currently waiting in the fridge for their moment to grow in the sunshine, hopefully they’ll join the other trees in making 2024 our best tree growing year yet!“
We’ve just added a new tree to our garden in recent weeks, but we’re a long way off the amount that Jenn has – what an ambitious project!
Hope you all have a great week ahead, and I’ll see you again,
same time next week…
View From The Potting Bench 