HERBS IN THE GARDEN

Most herbs are trouble free to grow and look after. They look good, smell good and do you good. Ever since humans have been on the earth, herbs have been used as medicines, perfumes, insect repellents and, of course, in foods and flavourings.

This huge group of plants includes trees, shrubs, annuals and even cacti, to name but a few. One important thing to remember when growing herbs is that they are the foundation of all modern medicine. They are not the gentle, delicate things some would like you to think. They are healers, therefore they should be treated with respect, and if you are considering them for specific medicinal use always consult a doctor or qualified herbalist. If you are growing herbs for use in the kitchen then you could have fun reading up on how they flavour food. Some herbs aid digestion and help you sleep soundly for example.

Easy to grow
Herbs can tolerate all types of tough growing conditions. Most of them were originally wild plants that grew in poor soil. Some varieties can be spoilt by the lush conditions of a garden. If they grow too large their flavours and properties become lessened. It's a myth that all herbs like full sun; even good old basil likes partial shade at midday. So when planning your garden, you can divide your plants into two sections, those like thyme, sage, rosemary, French tarragon and oregano that like full sun and those that like partial shade, such as rocket, sorrel, lettuce, mustard, parsley and chervil.

Containers and window boxes
Some plants that will do well in a herb window box on the sunny side of the house are chives, oregano and lemon thyme. Creeping thyme could be used to drape over the edge of the containers. However, on the shady side of the house a salad herb window box could be planted up with wild rocket, chervil, French parsley and red mustard.




Growing Tips
When growing herbs in containers, use a soil-based compost, either organic or something like John Innes potting compost. This is because there are very few herbs that grow in peat, and a soil-based compost retains moisture, which is a must to stop containers drying out.

Water the containers in the morning rather than the evening because this gives the plants a chance if the temperatures are hot during the day, especially for containers grown in full sun.
Feed container plants weekly from March until September. This keeps the plants healthy, helps them produce tasty leaves, especially on cut and come again salads. As we are on the coast, a seaweed-based feed is ideal or you could make your own comfrey or nettle juice now. These are not too strong and both will promote healthy leaf growth without making the plants grow too big and tasteless.

NEW FORUM SITE

DO YOU NEED GARDENING ADVICE?

Most of us have gardening questions that need answering at some time. Unfortunately I can’t cover all of them in a weekly article, as there just isn’t the room. To get over this issue I have teamed up with Irish Gardeners.com to give you an unparalleled gardening forum on my website www.gardening.ie. It is a very lively site with plenty of tips, advice and discussions. It’s free to join and I look forward to meeting you there…

BLOOM 2008

I went to the Bloom Flower Festival in Dublin presented by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board) last week. It is the second year that the event has been on in Phoenix Park and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take some photos for my website.

Big business
The amenity horticulture and landscaping sector is currently worth about €2 billion to the Irish economy annually, so the event is a key player in highlighting modern gardening trends and products. There were plenty of stalls selling a great range of home-made produce including cheeses, spreads and sweets. My son (who came with me) disappeared and returned with the biggest chunk of delicious fudge (it took him three days to finish it). It looked like a piece of marble stone and was a work of art…before it was devoured.

There was a large turn out of nurseries displaying this year’s plants as well as companies showcasing the latest in gardening labour saving devices and accessories.


There seems to be a lot of drama this year too in the garden, with bold architectural planting, which reflect what a creative lot the Irish gardeners are. Environmental issues are high on the agenda in the gardening world. Organic vegetable growers were well represented by the Dublin Meath Growers and there were sponsored gardens highlighting the need to feed yourselves from home grown produce, make your own compost and save the water that comes off your roof to irrigate the plants.

BLOOMIN’ MARVELLOUS

Health and Well-being
Floristry was well covered too, and a whole pavilion was taken up with fantastic displays. One that caught my eye used blue and red neon lighting to highlight the already bright colours. They were aptly called Madflowers. Less mad were conservation groups such as Bird Watch Ireland who reflected the diversity of outdoor interests and if anyone was interested in cookery there were displays running all through the weekend. A big emphasis was put on health and wellness at the show and dieticians and health experts were at hand to give talks and advise people on how to get - and stay healthy.


DESIGN
I was particularly interested in the show gardens. These are generally gardens that are so well laid out and planted that you could come away feeling as though your own plot was just a pile of old broken toys and wind blown overgrown shrubs. Don’t let that put you off though. It is the same as walking around the Ideal Homes Exhibition. The rooms are beautiful but are not lived in. In fact both my lad and I got told off a few times for climbing over the ropes and walking around the designs. The gardens can spark off your imagination but if you incorporated some of the ideas into your own garden they wouldn’t necessarily look the same as in a show garden as they would be more than just something to look at.

High Standards
The standard of design was really high for all sizes of gardens and although most designers are based in the Southeast, (perhaps reflecting denser populations, more expendable income and different priorities).

Small gardens used structures to give the illusion of space; one designer used large irregular four sided frames to magically change your perspective on the view (likened to Alice through the Looking Glass). I really enjoyed the use of different materials in the designs, one garden had slate, water, grass, bricks, slabs and wood all in the space of a few feet. Architectural features are important in a garden to give it depth. Peter Donegan went one better and included items that were either recycled or recyclable, including a 1957 pink, three storey pleasure boat. The Living Classroom entry inspired school grounds to be used for organic food production and to learn about biodiversity. The key phrase being “Think global act local”. School grounds tend to be concrete and grass so initiatives that will promote organic growing and educational wildlife areas with a pond will hopefully be the norm. It doesn’t have to be serious either. The south Dublin Education Society designed a Good Fun School Garden which incorporated overflowing baths and graffiti as well 5 separate areas representing the senses. Bord Bia will soon be coming out with a DVD on the subject so teachers can keep an eye out for it.
An inspiring day out and I plan to return next year. You can check out some of the photos on my website or visit the Bloom website

BUTTERFLIES IN THE GARDEN

June is bustin’ out all over
It doesn’t seem a minute ago that we were planting daffodil bulbs in containers for early spring colour. Now we are witnessing a real surge in growth as herbaceous borders are full of flowers and the vegetable patch is providing it’s first rich pickings. Salad plants are usually the first off the starting block with lettuce and rocket shooting up ahead of the radishes. If you have salad crops grown from seed, keep an eye on them and thin out early sowings. (Their final spacing is usually indicated on the seed packets if you still have them).

Give them some room
Congested seedlings never reach their full potential, as they distort one another as they grow, resulting in a much smaller crop. Carefully pull out unwanted seedlings, leaving the rest at the desired spacing. Water the row to settle the soil back around the roots of the remaining ones. If you are wanting to plant more veggies in the patch, June is the right time. Crops to sow outside in early June include runner beans, dwarf French beans, kohl rabi, carrots, marrows, cauliflowers, peas, ridge cucumbers, sweet corn, swede, lettuce, endive, squashes and spinach.


Attracting butterflies to the garden
Have you ever fancied having your garden full of butterflies in the summer? You might be pleased to learn that attracting butterflies into the garden doesn’t take much effort and just a bit of thought now will ensure that your garden is a riot of activity in the coming months. Even if you’re garden is tiny, butterflies will still be attracted to it as long as you have planted suitable nectar plants as it’s the nectar from the flowers that supplies the adult butterfly with food.

You’ll never work alone
To increase the number of butterflies in the garden, plant suitable flowers such as bluebells, dandelions, pansies, primroses, sweet william and wallflowers. If you want to encourage butterflies to stay right through until autumn, then chrysanthemum, French marigold, forget-me-nots, lavender, mint and honeysuckle could also be planted. Garden centres will be able to give you plenty of advice about nectar bearing plants for spring and summer. Plant them in a sunny but sheltered spot as butterflies enjoy the warmth. The more different species of plants you have, the greater the variety of species of butterflies you’re likely to attract. Keep the new plants well watered too as this helps them produce more nectar.

Feeding the caterpillars
You can also boost the population of butterflies by providing a good food source for caterpillars. Nettles, sweet rocket and garlic mustard are all ideal and most common species of butterfly will be happy to lay their eggs on these plants. Caterpillars will not cause noticeable damage but if you have problems with caterpillars eating the your cabbage leaves, take time to pick them off as opposed to spraying with pesticides. Alternatively, some gardeners prefer to cover their cabbages with fleece to stop butterflies from laying their eggs there. For those who are not that keen on having nettles growing with other plants, you might prefer to plant some nettles in pots instead and bury them in the ground in a sunny area where they will do the same job but not get out of control. If you grow herbs, plant enough for both yourself and the caterpillars as they enjoy eating things like fennel, parsley and dill and this will help to keep them away from other flowers in your garden. If you have any doubts about how effective this type of garden is at attracting butterflies, go down to Swan Park and have a look to see the activity in the butterfly garden.