Making up Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets have their place in the summer garden. They can be a lot of work though if you don’t have a watering system, but don’t let that put you off, it can be a lovely meditative job on a summers evening caring for them.

Making up your own Hanging Baskets
To get started you will need the following: A basket, basket liner or moss, plants, slow release fertilizer granules and some water retaining granules (optional).

• First rest the basket onto a bucket or pot for a good base when working.
• Water the plants and soil.
• Insert the liner I used coco fibre liners last year; they have holes already in the sides, which saved me having to use my brain to get the plants evenly spaced. If you are using moss, then line the basket to halfway up the sides.
• There are no fixed rules on plants to use, but you won’t go far wrong putting three or six plants (or clumps if you use Lobelia) through the side of the basket. Trailing plants also look effective. Then line the moss to the top of the basket and fill with compost.
• Add slow release fertilizer granules and moisture retaining granules if needed.
• Put a tall plant in the centre, such as a begonia or a pelargonium (geranium) and lower growing plants around it. If using trailing plants on the top of the basket, put them 6cm (2in) from the edge. They will fill out nicely by the time they trail over the edge of the basket. If you do buy the plants from the garden centres it is still early days for annual plants. Harden them off for a few days in a sheltered spot before you plant them up
• Once planted, water thoroughly, allow to soak, and then water again. Protect from strong sunlight for a few days and take them in if there is a frost or a very cold wind like we had last week. Deadhead the flowers regularly and water them frequently (They will need watering even if the weather is cloudy and wet in summer) and an organic liquid feed when the plants look as though they need perking up.

Tip- If you use moss peat and the basket does dry out, no amount of watering will wet the inside of the soil. Take down the basket and place it in a large container full of water, leave it until it is just about to sink, then pull it out. This sounds drastic, but it will save the plants! Alternatively you could use a John Innes soil based compost or mix some weed free garden soil into your peat. This will soak up the water without resorting to drowning the baskets in a bucket.

Plants for the Baskets
Choose plants that have a long flowering season to get the best out of the basket. Whichever plants you choose remember that they have been grown indoors and they will need a bit of protection against the elements for the first few days, so put them in a sheltered spot for a day or two. Try filling the basket with just one type of plant for a dramatic effect. Busy Lizzies; fuchsias or geraniums give a brilliant display until the first frosts. Avoid plants such as nemesia unless you can grow new plants at regular intervals as they only flower for a short period. Here are a few on offer that I found to be reliable in baskets: Ajuga ,Bidens, Begonia,Brachycome.,Cineraria maritime, Fuchsias,Geranium, Golden Creeping Jenny,Helichrysum , Ivy leaf- geraniums, Ivy varieties,Nasturtium ,Pansies,Petunia,Purple heuchera and Verbena.

Care of the Basket
Hanging baskets are very demanding things. Unless you have a very reliable relation, friend or neighbour you will not get a holiday in summer. Even on the driest days they will need watering at least twice a day. If you have a lot of baskets then you might like to consider a self-watering system. This will drip feed your baskets at a set time throughout the day and night by means of a twenty-four hour timer. For a regular house you could fit one of these systems for as little as €200 euro or less. You will be free all summer and the plants would thrive. A small price to pay I think.

When you fit the basket to the wall or a post, remember that they are heavy when full of water. Check the brackets are in good condition and that the chains are strong. The baskets can come down with a mighty bump.

If you do let the basket dry out then they are impossible to water in the normal manner, as the water will just run off the surface. Take the basket down and put it into a large container full of water. Leave it long enough until the basket starts to sink and pull it out. The basket is now fully watered.

Even if the basket has slow release fertiliser in it you will be well advised to still feed the plants at regular intervals. There just isn’t the soil in the containers to meet the need of all the plants. I find organic tomato feed as good as anything as it promotes flowering.

A Day in the Life

 

A little music to help the seedlings grow.

It’s amazing how a simple a morning can end up being packed full of diversity. Here’s what happened last Saturday when I had nothing to do.

8 am
It’s a lovely sunny morning and a load of washing has just finished in the machine. I pop the clothes into a basket and stroll to the washing line.
8:01
Just before I get to the line, I brush past the dead heads of the hydrangea shrub “I’ll cut those back” I’m thinking. I put the washing basket down onto the grass and go to the shed to get the loppers. I find an old fire grate too so that goes under the arm as well. The grate is cast iron, iron makes pink hydrangeas turn blue. It’s worth a try and will give me a reason for throwing it into the garden.
8.10
That didn’t take long; all of the cut off stems have been thrown into a pile under the trees to rot down.
8:11
Julie wants to sow some seeds today so I pop into the shed to fill the seed trays with my special mix. Loads of light gets in through the big window so they should get a good start. I am distracted for a minute though as I have to squeeze past the drum set. I’ll just have a quick practice.
9.00
The drum solo took a bit longer than expected, but I’m ready to fill the trays with compost. Julie comes in with the seed packets. She starts to plant carrots, courgettes, peas, beans, tomatoes and lettuce. We usually get our seed packs from places like B+Q and get a good number of seeds. We tried the Lidl ones this year, OK they are cheaper, but couldn’t believe it when we opened up the tomato packet and found 7 seeds, yes 7 tomato seeds. We’ll have to get some more. Last year we had foamy tomatoes so this year they will all be the small varieties.
9:30
I leave Julie to sow dwarf sweet peas (larger ones on the list of things to get) purple sprouting broccoli, (not the calibrese ones as they flower in summer) and curly kale. I can play the drums again later; it might help the seedlings to grow.
9:40
I’m shovelling soil into the sieve to add to the raised beds. My lad has joined me to do a bit of French hoeing to kill off the young weed seedlings. He has to work his way around the hazel sticks I put in for the plants to grow up. Most of them are growing leaves so it looks as though they are still alive. The dogs are busy hiding in the gorse bushes waiting for me to throw them a stick.
10:45
Julie comes up and starts planting onion sets and more seeds in the cleared beds. Peas, beans, carrots, this packet (again from Lidl) give us spaced out carrot seeds in a strip, beetroot, perpetual spinach, rocket, radishes and white turnips when we can find the packet. It’s gone walkabout. There will be some successive sowing this year with crops such as peas, carrots and salad leaves. The longer we can keep out of the supermarket vegetable section the happier I’ll be.
10:57
The strawberries are put back in after being trimmed. Both alpine and regular ones go in together. It’s a bit of a shady spot, so the alpine ones will be happy at least.
11:00
We will put hazel branches over the beds after planting to keep the dogs off, or give them something to chew on as they carry on playing in the beds. Don’t worry if you haven’t got your seeds planted yet. Klaus Laitenberger , the Leitrim gardener tells us not to take any notice of the seed sowing dates up here in the North West. Leave everything at least a month later that it tells us. Our seed sowing is being done during a waxing moon - this is supposed to be a good time to plant biodynamically.
11:27
I have the strimmer going. It’s first time this year. I am finding loads of old footballs in the undergrowth and carefully going around the trees, hedges and lawn edges.
11:45
I move over to the herb garden to strim the grass paths. Julie has just planted some lettuce plants her father sent over this week in amongst the sage, parsley and chives. I cover the whole lot with grass cuttings as I strim. I’ll tidy it up later. We have a couple of replacements to grow this year in the herb garden as the rosemary and oregano died in the frost.
11:55
Julie cuts back the lemon balm; this grows so quickly it’s already too big. The mint is going to be planted into the ground too this year. It’s not happy confined to a pot. It’ll probably take over the garden, but at least we will have plenty for making tea.
12:14
To finish off strimming, I am now heading up the driveway to get all of the weeds from the edge of the asphalt, this saves on using weedkiller. The wind can blow the cut grass into piles and as long as it doesn’t rain
12:35
I go and see how the sowing is done. The rows are far enough apart to get the hoe into it, this will make weeding really simple later in the season. Spacing is so important in the vegetable patch; it can save you hours of boring weeding in summer.
12:36
I can’t wait any longer to do the sweeping, the mess is annoying me. First though the brush head needs screwing back on again. The dog ate the handle.
1:10
Julie has moved onto the tubs and containers near the shed. More successive sowing starting with the first sowing of rocket, parsley, cut and come again lettuce and radish. We’re still looking for coriander preferably the leafy cilantro. The only thing missing is night scented stock; the sweet heady smell is lovely in the evenings. More seeds to buy and sow.
1:55
I have the mower working now, leaving Julie to the sowing and cutting back. Cutting the grass will take no time at all because I don’t have to go into the corners
2:30
A good morning’s work. Time for a hot chocolate and a butter biscuit, they are the dog’s favourites. Maybe afterwards I’ll get around to hanging up that washing.

Don't Forget the Flowers..

“But not everyone’s interested in growing vegetables.” I’m having a bit of a heated debate with Mary, an avid flower grower in the town.

“It’s all you hear at the moment, grow this, eco that, crisis this and crisis that. All I want to do in the garden is grow a few colourful flowers and relax and forget about all of the troubles in the world. “The colour has risen to Mary’s face like a Moville sunrise as she continues to protest about the growing movement of edible horticulture “At one time we had a balance of gardening. David Hamilton would be in the flower garden on Gardeners’ World and there would be a bit at the end of the programme about growing the vegetables and tell you how to spray on the chemicals, now it’s the other way around. Flowers have become sidelined.” She states animatedly throwing her hands about in the air to mimic airborne gardening, if there is such a thing.

Mary continues without drawing breath. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of saving the planet, but why does it have to be me? All I want to do is grow a few petunias.”
“There needs to be a balance”, I say wisely, picking a bit of dormant information from my brain. “Like in garden design, there needs to be a bit of style, flow, scale and symmetry, texture, colour and above all balance when it comes to gardening.” I’m not making much sense but continue. “Gardening will find its balance soon, inter-planting the veggie bed with flowers might be a start.” I’ve mentioned vegetables again.
“There you go again” Mary interjects.”You haven’t got past the first sentence and you’re talking about bloody vegetables again!” I try to lower her blood pressure level and try and dig my way out of the hole I just dug, “I see the whole issue of gardening as one entity. Flowers, vegetables, shrubs trees, they are all the same.” It didn’t work.

“Not they are not!”, Mary argues and continues gasping, “and I won’t be made to feel guilty about not saving the planet or eating home grown carrots when I’m deadheading the roses. I don’t want to grow vegetables, or get a raised bed for that matter, what’s wrong with growing things in the ground. Why does everything need to be put in beds?” Mary’s arms are now flailing like wind turbines. I’d better not start that topic of conversation.
I look at my watch and give the impression that I have to get over to the other side of the road for something extremely important. “It’s been good talking to you.” I say politely shuffling my feet to the pavement edge. “Got to go”

“And another thing,” Mary has taken to shouting to me from across the High Street, “I’m fed up of being told that I have ‘Cash in my Attic’. Just because there’s a recession on doesn’t mean that I want to go around selling everything to raise a bit of cash. The same goes for saving money on food.” I’m nearly out of ear shot now and slip down a side road out of view. I keep my dignity and refrain from running.
When I bumped into Mary on the street, I was going to mention that there was a talk on in Carndonagh about the food crisis by someone from Equador as part of the Latin American Week. It’s probably a good idea that I didn’t.

Beauty is all around

Mary has had a bit of an effect on me though as I walk back home through the town along the shorefront, I’m concentrating on the freshness of spring flowers. This is a beautiful time of year, with new growth emanating from the ground and promises of things to come. It’s a great time of year to lift and divide any of your favourite perennial plants now.

The bright yellow glow of daffodils from the containers George has planted in the town look lovely in the fresh spring sunshine. We have a vase of beautiful double trumpet daffodils from our own garden on the kitchen table which light up the whole room. New growth is everywhere and the sunshine is reflecting off of the delicate leaves of crocus’s, primroses, violets and aconites that are growing all over Inishowen. Walking through Swan Park, the familiar smell of wild garlic wafts into the air, it’s like seeing an old friend. There’s beauty all around and just for Mary, I have managed to write one whole sentence without mentioning the vegetable garden. That is of course apart from the wild garlic; you can pick the young leaves and add them to your spring salad. Sorry Mary, I tried.

I’ll have to have a look in our attic when I get home.

Talk