Gardening by Douglas Boatman: Make most of growing your own

I should be on my holidays

With sea and sand and wine

But I can’t leave my tomatoes

To wither on the vine

The cabbage would be heartless

The courgettes wee and thin

So until the heatwave’s over

I’m better staying in.

With the global food production problems and the general cost of living crisis 2022 needs to be a good year for home-grown material.

Suggestions are that yields are already on a downward trajectory. I hope that the situation can be salvaged but, even as an amateur gardener, I am finding this season to be difficult. A mixture of problems – variable germination and poor setting of fruit (apart from the gooseberries – a bumper crop!)

The watering can has never seen so much use but it has been worth it. Petunias have been a popular annual plant for many years (Tommy Cooper mentioned them in the lyrics of his song 'Don’t jump off the roof dad', in 1961).

Always a colourful addition to the border or hanging basket, they have evolved over time and now there is the 'Supertunia'. I was a bit cynical about the promotional blurb but I have to admit this is an impressive cultivar.

I potted up a straggly wee plant into an eight-litre container at the start of June. Each shoot was trimmed back to three inches. The picture shows it an all its glory in mid July – on my birthday. (The bottle is there to give an idea of scale – its contents helped alleviate the realisation that I’m another year older).

This particular plant is one of the Supertunia ‘Vista’ series. An ideal choice for a hanging basket or patio display. Nice mounding habit.

Internet advice is to plant three of these per 12-inch basket. Nonsense ... one is plenty. This single plant is 80 cm across and still growing. No need to bother with dead-heading – it sheds its flowers neatly and doesn’t waste energy on setting seed.

Flower power right enough. Kept fed and watered this beauty should look good right the way through to late autumn.

The herbaceous border is, generally, suffering from the rainfall deficit. Phlox has got a touch of mildew, the rudbeckia looks tired and rust problem on the geraniums is worse than normal.

One exception is the Salvia Caradonna. It’s loving the heat and has put on a brilliant display of deep blue flowers. The bees are happy too.

The stems are quite tall but sufficiently robust enough not to need staking. Once the flowering is over, I’ll cut them back to 20-30 cm.

Not an invasive plant, it forms neat rosettes of basal foliage. Being a sun-worshipper it prefers well drained soil and I am concerned about its long-term hardiness. A cold, wet winter may be its demise. Hope not.

The modern trend is to mix to the architectural look of the garden with a nod towards the ‘wildlife-friendly’ theme. Grasses and tall perennials seem to be in vogue, even in commercial landscape settings in new housing estates.

This is all well and good until the autumn when seed dispersal gets under way. Verbena bonariensis is a lovely favourite with insects and Stipa gigantea is a bold grass, with impressive fronds waving in the breeze, but they really enjoy procreation.

Best to remove the stalks at an early stage or be cursed with weeding out the seedlings all through summer 2023.

A bit of colour in the garden this year has come from this bright Verbena

Over in the veg’ plot, there have been mixed results so far. The first sowing of peas (Rondo) had sporadic germination – better luck with the second lot.

I’m growing the Bristol cultivar of onions this year. Not too happy with them as there are a few dying off. Not sure why – Ailsa Craig did well last season – planted Clapton cauliflower this year rather than the usual all year round variety.

It's supposed to have good club root resistance. So far so good ... I do like my cauli’ and cheese bake!.

Not often that you find a tree, or large shrub, that has pleasantly scented foliage. The Candy Floss Tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is one – lovely smell of burnt sugar in autumn.

Another is the poplar (Populus candicans Aurora), also know as the Balm of Gilead, or Irish Handkerchief Tree. Both unusual names with interesting history. A soft aroma from the new foliage, particularly after rain.

The leaves on the ‘Aurora’ variety are multi-coloured and attractive. Makes a fast growing screening tree. However, not suitable near the property – the roots and suckers pop up everywhere.

If (and we should) get a bit of moisture before too long- it may be worth considering giving your evergreen hedge a feeding boost. Laurel and Leyland Cypress are very responsive.

Even trees can need a bit of watering when the weather has been so dry

In the current dry situation, plants are on survival mode and chucking on fertiliser would be a waste of time, if not actually detrimental. After a wet week, the roots may be more receptive.

Laurel, in particular, can put on another foot of growth before the end of the season if fed with a good high nitrogen liquid or pelleted meal. Just make sure that you have cleared the weeds out of the way beforehand. Given the price of fertiliser – you don’t want any of it to go to waste!

HAPPY GARDENING!

General points:

* Ponds are having a hard time right now. Just be aware (if not already) that Scottish Water is adding chloramine to the water supply in many areas. This can have serious consequences for the fish as it is more persistent than straightforward chlorine. You will need to add a water conditioning agent before introducing any new stock – if you are using tap water to fill the pond or topping up depleted levels.

* Take advantage of the heat and warm soil conditions to sow some late season veg’. Maybe out of time for carrots but you should get some success with radish, lettuce and spinach. No need to put a poly-cloche on them (likely to overheat). And then look forward to a bit of home-grown salad this side of Christmas!

* Keep the humidity level up with the greenhouse tomatoes. Amazing how fast they can drink. Spray the foliage early morning – helps set fruit.

* Mentioned feeding hedges earlier. Same applies for hang baskets/patio containers. Make sure they are well watered then liquid feed once a week. You will be well rewarded.