New concept with sweet peas

Last Tuesday the members of Gourock Horticultural Society who attended the fortnightly talk were treated to an insight into a new type of sweet peas by gardening ace Ian Halbert of Skelmorlie.

Instead of the old method of sowing these wonderful flowers and training them up canes and then layering them by allowing the stems to grow along the ground and then up another cane several feet away (a rather labour intensive exercise to say the least) Ian brought the audience up to date with a new concept by growing a much smaller version off these ever popular flowers which grow only about one foot high.

Ian gave the audience details of various species of seeds for those smaller varieties and showed pictorial examples from the grower’s catalogue and gave hints and tips and how to get the best blooms. Ian, ably assisted by his daughter Jenny, demonstrated various sizes of root trainer and also let the members into the secrets of growing onions and leeks.

Additionally, Ian introduced the ‘green-fingered’ audience to a rather new piece of equipment which can be used to provide a mist which prevents over-watering and this costs less than £20 

Gourock Horticultural members are hoping to source these and allow gardeners to use it for watering and feeding.

Brown bin collections

Inverclyde Council are commencing their kerb-side brown Bin Collection for garden waste next month.

To participate in this service, which will continue until November, householders require a special permit which is available from the council and costs £42 per bin.

The brown bins will not be uplifted unless a permit is prepaid. Further information can be obtained from Inverclyde Council. Garden waste can still be taken to the council’s civic amenities depots at Gourock and Pottery Street in Greenock.

Seed sowing talk on the horizon

March 5 will see a talk on sowing seed organised by Gourock Horticultural Society and led by Alan Maliska of In-Work, Greenock. Members attending the talk will have plenty of time to ask questions and get the advice of expert gardener Alan.

The talk takes place at Cardwell Garden Centre commencing at 2pm and interested members of the public are welcome to attend and bring a friend with them too if desired.

The talks usually last up to an hour but those attending are welcome to have a chat with others at the end of the meeting.

Take care of canes

Canes which have been used in the garden last year need a little bit of attention. You can do this by gathering them all together and submerging them in a bucket of hot soapy water to which you have added a good dose of disinfectant. This will ensure that any disease is killed before you need to use them again.

Once the canes have been in the bucket for a few days - or even a bit longer - you can turn them upside down to let the disinfectant reach the other end of the canes. It is worth remembering that cleanliness is next to godliness when dealing with gardening tasks!

Climate change is affecting our gardens

If you have been listening to the media over the past week or so you will have been told that climate is becoming wetter and warmer over the coming months and this is very important for what happens in our gardens. The change in climate will affect flowers, vegetables and many other plants.

If you are growing plants in containers, it is wise to raise the bottom of the containers off the ground either by using proprietary pot feet or even a few old bricks and doing this will allow excess water to drain from the container.

Lawns can become quite soggy and it will pay dividends to spike the grass to improve drainage by using a hollow-tined tool or even a garden fork pushed down several inches into the grass. This will allow air to expose roots and help dry out the soil beneath the grass.

Readers' problems

Recently I met a lady who told me that her young son had been given a goal set and nets and has been old having a kick-about in the garden. The result was that the grass was now worn away and that piece of the garden was now bare. She covered the area with sharp sand and this seemed to solve the problem.

Another lady asked my advice about growing in raised beds and I advised that she cover the top of the soil with fresh compost to which she had added some grit or sharp sand.

A gentleman reader sought my opinion about growing various vegetables including potatoes and herbs and I was happy to give him my thoughts on the matter.

Quite a few readers have also enquired about compost heaps or bins and now is a good time to start one. At the same time as you do this look out all your garden tools and make sure they are ready to use, and this includes your lawnmower.

If the mower is electrically operated, have it checked over by an approved electrical contractor. If the mower is a push-pull type or petrol driven it will pay dividends to ensure the blades have been sharpened, otherwise the mower is more prone to bruise the grass rather than cut it. Your grass will look much better by doing this.