GRUBBY GARDENING

PESTS. Grubs, non-beneficial insects and fungal diseseases all equal trouble.
Call them what you will but these tetchy troublemakers are at large all over the garden at the moment.

Luckily, Peter Cundall has come up with some excellent solutions.

In my garden I love seeing the chooks scratch around and eat those aphids, scurrying caterpillars and grubs.

If only they could climb trees and eat black spot on the roses!

Here the girls are hard at work tearing up grass

where I wanted to put in a new vegetable bed.

So far I have planted an apple tree and a lemon tree as well as inheriting another citrus and a plum which was discovered when i removed kilos of ivy from a shed wall.

As Sir Cundall advises, now is the time to check your fruit trees for insects and any fungal growth. He said it is important to collect coddling moth cases and ensure your clear up and removal of weeds and lawn clippings near fruit trees is carried out to ensure you don't spread diseases or insects.

Any infected growth such as fruit or leaves should be removed and thrown out in the rubbish, not put through the compost.

Fruit tree prune

PRUNING fruit trees can be a tricky business.

Different types of fruit trees need to be pruned at different times of the year.

While some gardeners like to go for the 'ground zero' approach, usually spring pruning ia lighter - more like getting a trim at the hairdresser than a buzz-cut.

As usual, The Weekly Times Peter Cundall is on top of it.

Remember to clean your secateurs to prevent spreading any infections.

Vine awakening

WITH blossom on the fruit trees, pansy, jumping jack and lobelia flowering like mad in the hanging baskets outside the kitchen windows and various bulbs showing their faces all over the garden, it's good to see spring has also woken up the grape vine.

 

The vine is growing up the north-west facing side the deck divide and until a few days ago looked like dead wood. But now it's putting out leaves at a rate of knots to shame to the two passion fruit vines at the other end of the garden.

 

I have no idea what type of grapes this plant will bear or if they are ornamental or edible as the previous owner left no tags on or near any of their plants when they moved out. This is a shame as I always leave tags on my trees.

 

So I hope the new owners of my old home will look at the fruit trees and be excited about the four varieties of apples and realise the enormous New Dawn rose climbing up the deck will soon explode in a mass a scented blooms.

 

What I thought looked like hyacinth bulbs have turned out to be bluebells, which is a nice surprise.

 

But for now, I'm happy to wait and watch and see what the vine produces - gardening is always such an adventure. 

Fruitful plantings

THERE is nothing like picking your own apples, cherries, peaches or lemons.

Making food from fruit is a wonderful feeling.

Last week I enjoyed a marvellous time baking lemon butter cakes using eggs from the hens and lemons from my trees.

In Peter Cundall's latest Weekly Times article he talks about the benefits of growing your own fruit.

Fresh figs, warm from the sunshine and eaten in the garden

straight from the tree - this defines summer bliss.

Last summer I stood under my flourishing fig tree and ate its glorious fruit warm from the tree - bliss.

Now is the time to think about putting in fruit trees so you can enjoy the crop for years to come.

Winter often seems like nothing much is happening in the garden, but it's the prefect time of year to get your fruit trees sorted.

Don't delay - no-one ever regretted plating another fruit tree!

Pruning time

THIS weekend I aim to finish pruning my fruit trees.

So I'll spend an hour or so giving the secateurs and saw a good clean, oil and then sharpen.

There's something very satisfying about reducing a triffid to a few sticks which you know will burst forth in greenery in spring and by summer be adorned with apples and peaches.

My chooks like to cluster under my feet as they vie for insects falling off the branches.

The lemon tree has grown a bit since this images taken so I'll be

getting rid of the busy branches crowding up the middle

to allow air flow and sunshine in...

As usual the delightful Sir Peter Cundall has some very useful tips to share.

Remember to toss all the cuttings into the green waste bin instead of the compost bin in case of pests or disease.