Gardening Tips
Your fortnightly gardening tips for indoors and outdoors |
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Hostas. Clear away dying, fallen leaves from around the
crowns of the plants as they create hiding places for slugs and snails. Scatter broken
eggshells or grit around plants to deter these pests. Hostas can also be divided now.
Bulbs. Complete planting of spring-flowering bulbs this month. It is an ideal time to
plant tulips, which like to go a little deeper than most bulbs.
Lawns. Poor drainage and compaction will lead to invasion by moss growth and you can
tackle these problems now by spiking with a fork or aerator while the grass is still
growing. This job can also be done in the spring, but the superficial damage will not be
so much of an eyesore now as it would be in the summer when the lawn is in use. Spread
coarse sand over the lawn and brush into the holes which should then stay open and act as
drains to move water away from the surface in winter. They will also allow air to reach
the roots more easily. Do not topdress the lawn with compost now because it may stifle the
base of the grass and smother the growth. If sphagnum moss is a problem, you can rake it
out after killing it with moss killer, but this work is best tackled in spring. The moss
that is raked out (whether alive or dead) can be added to the compost heap along with
fallen leves that should be raked up regularly. Left on the lawn, they will bring worms
and their casts to the surface.
Redcurrants. Prune redcurrant bushes now. Shorten the new growths by half their length and
then prune sideshoots back to about 2in (5cm).
Heathers. Plant winter-flowering heathers in containers filled with lime-free compost for
winter colour and prune the flowered heads off summer heathers.
Sheds. Replace roofing felt if necessary. Put mousetraps in sheds where vegetables and
bulbs are being stored. |
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| Embarrassing
Stories |
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Elderly relative went to pick up her Nephew and Niece from
Manchester Airport.
Proceeding up the M6 she arrived at Liverpool Airport. Realising her mistake, she
proceeded South down the M6, took a wrong turning and ended up at an airstrip in North
Wales!
She never picked up her relatives! |
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Good judgement comes from experience
Experience comes from bad judgement
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A Mardle at Parkinson's Old friend and local
personality Keith Skipper dropped into the Parkinson's disease Society Cromer branch
October meeting for a good old Norfolk mardle, |
| This caused some consternation amid the 'furriners' from
outside the County, who were wondering what they had let themselves in for, and were
greatly relieved when told that a mardle is Norfolk for chat, gossip. As well as quoting
extensively from his own collections, we were also treated to extracts from the
(reprinted) works of The Boy John; to the famous P.S. comments of Aunt Agatha, and Dick
Bagnall-Oakley. Some of Keith's own books were available for purchase at the meeting. |
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