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- With the soil so moist at present, these are the ideal conditions for establishing herbs
and annual bedding plants. While the soil is a bit cold to get your petunias growing, they
will make a good root run and develop as nice squat plants.
- Most herbs (except chervil) need a really sunny aspect and to plant them into such a
site when the weather is warm, sees them establish slowly, so now is ideal for herbs in
containers as well as in the ground. While marjoram, thyme and mints of all types will
establish in 30cm terra cotta squat pots, most herbs need more depth in the container.
- Add some water-holding gel beads and at least a 2cm layer of gravel or sharp sand in the
bottom, so that they cannot get wet feet no matter how much they get watered. A little
superphosphate in two layers of the potting media, as you back-fill, is also useful for
root development.
- Fertilise your Sweet Peas now that they are flowering and probably exhausting their
nutrient reserves. Use only superphosphate. Any water-soluble fertilisers with copper in
any form, will kill your Sweet Peas. Fertilizer any other leguminous climbers now too,
such as Hardenbergia varieties and even though they’re native plants, a small dose of
‘super’ is magic to get them moving after they flower.
- Early cucurbits such as ‘Blackjack’ Zucchini, (the yellow varieties have never
done that well for me in this area) ‘Lebanese’ Squash, the ornamental Marrows
and Gourds, ‘Butternut’ Pumpkin and any Rock Melon or Apple Cucumbers (I leave
the Continental Cucumbers for glasshouse market gardeners).
- When sowing any cucurbits, they can be helped along by sowing on to a mound and by using
a cloche over the seed to aid germination. That can be a simple as cutting the bottom from
a PET Coke™ bottle and remove the cap for ventilation. A more sophisticated cloche
structure of sheets of glass of poly sheeting, left open at the ends, is also good and
allows more time for them to germinate and establish, before having to remove it.
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