Here's your summer ’23 newsletter which we hope you will find useful.
WILDLIFE FOCUS…A wildlife pond is one of the single best features for attracting new wildlife to the garden…
It is thought that some amphibians, such as frogs, are now more common in garden ponds than in the countryside. You can build a pond at any time during the year, (but if you start in autumn or late winter, it will get established much quicker.)
You will need:
A big patch of garden
A plank of wood
Pond liner - preferably made of butyl rubber, which is durable, flexible, moderately cheap and easy to work with
A variety of pond plants
Some large rocks
A spirit level
Builder's sand
A good spade or mini-digger depending on how big your pond will be.
Water (use rainwater for best results)
Step 1
It is better for wildlife if you put the pond in a warm, sunny area – tadpoles, dragonflies and plants with thrive in these conditions. First, mark out your pond on the ground with a rope or hosepipe, and then get digging. Ensure that the sides are level as you dig by placing a plank across the pond’s hole with a spirit level on top. Remember to include some shallow areas - a sloping 'beach' is ideal, to allow wildlife easy access.
Step 2
Remove any sharp stones from the bottom of the hole. Put down a 5 cm-thick layer of sand to line the hole. Sand is preferable because it is sterile and will not harbour any undesirable seeds or microbes, but you can also try old carpet, newspapers or even loft insulation material.
Step 3
Dig a trench around the edge of the pond for the overhanging pond liner to drop into. Place the liner carefully in the hole and tuck the edge into the trench; weigh it down with large rocks. Any extra excess liner can be snipped off with scissors.
Step 4
Fill the bottom of the pond with the remaining sand.
Step 5
Fill the pond up, this may take longer than you think. If possible, use collected rainwater to fill your pond, or fill from the tap with a hose. To stop the sand substrate dispersing, rest the nozzle of the hose on a plastic bag to absorb some of the energy. If you do fill your pond with tap water then leave it so stand for a few days before adding it in. As the pond fills up, the liner will stretch. Back fill the trench around the edge of the pond with soil. As the pond is filling, place turf, soil or flagstones over the exposed liner at the pond edges. Butyl liner degrades in sunlight, so try not to leave areas of uncovered liner exposed for too long.
Step 6
Plants can be introduced to your pond approximately 1-2 weeks after the initial filling with water. Carefully selected native species (see below) will support your local wildlife.
Step 7
Watch and see what wildlife visits. Place stones, logs and plants around the edges to create habitats for pond-visiting creatures. Consider adding a plank of wood or a similar ramp to help any wildlife that might fall in. By including a gently sloping beach area when digging your pond, you can ensure wildlife have an easy way out.
If plants are well chosen, and the pond is kept in a relatively balanced ecological state, it shouldn’t need much maintenance at all. However, do keep an eye out for a build-up of dead organic matter and encroaching vegetation.
THRIFTY CORNER….
Home-made plant labels
Save the corks from bottles of wine enjoyed with friends and upcycle them into plant tags. Carefully slice one fifth of the cork off to reveal a flat surface, then use a permanent marker to write each plant name on. Use a wooden skewer pushed into the bottom of the cork to give your tag height, then pop into the ground when you're growing your plants to remind you what's what.
SEASONAL RECIPES….
Pea & Burrata Salad with Preserved Lemon Salsa
Ingredients
200g broad beans (shelled weight)
200g peas (shelled weight)
1 mint sprig
2 spring onions, white and green parts separated and both finely sliced
2 balls burrata
handful fresh pea shoots
For the salsa
6 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 preserved lemon, finely chopped
10 sugar snap or mangetout, finely sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
small bunch mint, leaves picked and finely sliced and some small ones left whole to serve
Method
STEP 1
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the broad beans for 2-3 mins, then drain and plunge immediately into a bowl of ice-cold water. Once cool, use your nail to pierce the skin, then squeeze the bright green beans out of their shells into a bowl.
STEP 2
Bring another pan of water to the boil and cook the peas with the mint sprig for a couple of mins, then drain and mix with the beans. Stir through the spring onion whites, season to taste and set aside. Tip the peas and beans onto a serving platter and top with the whole burrata balls.
STEP 3
To make the salsa, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, preserved lemon and a good pinch of salt and pepper until well emulsified. Stir through the sugar snaps or mangetout, spring onion greens, chilli and sliced mint, then spoon over the burrata.
STEP 4
Scatter over the pea shoots and garnish with the extra mint leaves. Put in the centre of the table and let everyone help themselves – the burrata will dress the peas with its creaminess and the dressing will cut through the richness.
Fresh Orange Lollies
Ingredients
3 oranges
2 pears, peeled and cored
Method
STEP 1
Finely grate ¼ tsp zest from one of the oranges, then peel them, roughly chop the flesh and put in a bowl (or food processor) with the zest and pears. Blitz until as smooth as you can get it, then pour into lolly containers, poke in sticks and freeze until solid.
SOME TASKS TO DO IN YOUR GARDEN THIS SEASON
July
Fruit and Veg
Start sowing veg seed, such as kale and spinach for winter pickings.
Make more strawberry plants by pinning down runners in pots.
Remove the lower leaves of tomatoes for better airflow and riper fruits.
Harvest fresh growth of herbs for drying in the freezer.
Keep picking courgettes when they reach their desired size.
Pick off caterpillars of cabbage whites on brassica plants.
Start sowing new crops of peas, sowing direct into the soil.
Feed and mulch rhubarb to give it a boost now that harvesting is over.
Ensure brassicas are planted firmly, and collared and netted against cabbage root fly and Harvest strawberries just before eating – don’t refrigerate them.
Prune currant bushes removing any new growth that is crowding the centre of the bush.
Sow catch crops as you harvest veg to fill the empty spaces.
Pick beans frequently to keep them cropping.
Sow main-crop carrots, spring cabbages, oriental leaves, endives and winter radishes.
Pinch out the shoot’s tips of fig trees.
Clip side shoots on formal bay plants to maintain their shape.
Cut back tomato plants when they have made three to five fruit trusses.
Harvest garlic when the foliage dies back.
Tie in new stems of blackberries and hybrid berries to make fruit picking easier next year.
Sow green manure in an empty patch of soil that becomes available after a crop has been harvested.
Flowers
Check plants daily for aphids and wipe them from stems with a damp cloth
Prick out the seedlings of biennials sown in trays last month.
Sow wallflower seeds now, ready for planting in the autumn.
Trim back and deadhead plants in pots and hanging baskets.
Pinch out the growing tips of fuchsias.
Plant out autumn-flowering bulbs in free draining soil.
Pick sweet peas every few days to encourage more blooms.
Continue to deadhead roses by cutting off old flowerheads with secateurs.
Remove hollyhock leaves that are showing signs of rust.
Tidy up alchemillas by cutting off the leaves and spent flowers.
Give acid-loving plants a liquid foliar feed on a cloud day to avoid scorching in the sunshine.
Cut back flopped early perennials.
Keep watering potted camellias but stop feeding this month.
Propagate irises by dividing them after flowering.
Cut back lupins and delphiniums after flowering.
Mow wildflower meadows after the ripe seeds have been shed.
Collect and sow seed from early summer flowers such as poppies, foxgloves and lupins.
Take cuttings of fuchsias, helichrysum, osteospermums and other tender bedding plants.
Mulch perennials with compost to keep soil damp.
Pick sweet peas regularly to keep them flowering.
Sow wallflower seeds now, ready for planting in the autumn
Miscellaneous
Regularly check water levels in bird baths, topping them up where necessary.
Raise mower-blade setting to help it cope better with hot and dry weather.
Put shade netting inside your greenhouse to prevent plants from getting scorched inside.
August
Fruit and veg
Give curry plants a trim to prevent flopping.
Harvest tomatoes, beans, courgettes and sweetcorn.
Sow winter veg and spring greens to provide later harvests.
Freeze or dry surplus herbs for use later in the year.
Keep your carrot crop well watered
Inspect potatoes for signs of blight (blackening leaves and patched of dark tissue down the stems), cut off all foliage and harvest the crop
Summer prune peaches and nectarines after they have fruited.
Sow parsley for a leafy winter supply.
Remove old and yellow tomato leaves to ripen fruit and assist air circulation.
After fruiting cut out old canes of summer fruiting raspberries.
Prune plums and damsons and cut out damaged branches.
Start harvesting autumn cabbages and baby leeks.
Water trees that are growing against walls.
Continue pruning trained fruit trees.
Pick over sugar snap peas and mangetouts every few days, to catch pods while still young, tender and sweet.
Cover carrots with fleece to keep carrot flies away.
Flowers
Continue taking cuttings from fuchsias and pelargoniums.
Grow on foxgloves, moving into individual pots or planting out in your border.
Layer rhododendrons by wounding and pinning the flexible shoots to the ground.
Check plants for slugs and snails in the evening and collect them up.
Create an abundance of flowers next year by leaving your hardy annual flowers to go to seed.
Cut back vigorous shoots on wisteria now to promote more flower buds for next year’s display.
Plant freesia corms in pots for winter flowers.
Order narcissus and hyacinth bulbs for forcing next month.
Harvest flowers for drying such as paper daisies.
Pot up self-sown seedlings to grow on for next year.
Collect ripening seeds from perennials.
Give evergreen hedges such as holly, laurel and yew their final trim of the season.
Plant the seedlings of biennials sown in June.
Water cyclamen to start the corms into growth.
Pick bulbils off lily stems and pot up to get new plants.
Trim leafy shoots from pyracantha to reveal the ripening berries.
Take cuttings from hybrid tea, floribunda and shrub roses.
Feed repeat flowering roses with a tonic of liquid seaweed to boost their strength for flowering in late autumn
GARDENING PEARLS OF WISDOM…. or not
“It’s obvious that carrots are good for your eyesight, have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?” Steve McQueen
The Autumn newsletter will be available end of August/beginning of September.