THE weather has started to look a bit more like summer and the plants are starting to catch up. All the recent heat, not to mention my plant-feeding regime, has really given them a boost for the summer.
It is so important to give the displays and hanging baskets a liquid food every few weeks to encourage flowering. I have already fed everything in the garden four times this season and I can really see the results now.
The backdrop of summer annuals around the pond and back patio is quite magical to see.
Many different plants, so closely related to each other, almost create an artist’s canvas with a stunning color palette. We have now had quite a few visitors, including a small group of volunteers from the city’s Stanford and Cleveland Community Garden, earlier in the week.
Visitor bookings are on the rise and the freezer is full of ready-to-serve cakes for those who enjoy tea and homemade cakes served on vintage china in the garden. The first National Garden Scheme appointment on June 29 is almost full, but there are plenty of opportunities to book to see the garden on a private tour, with all funds raised from the private tours going to Macmillan Cancer Support.
With the open garden season in full swing again, after last year’s many issues, why not plan a visit to the garden on Father’s Day next weekend, June 20. One of my regular readers, Melvyn Tarran, asked me to mention the event he is involved with on the Hassocks and Keymer Village Garden trail. The gardens are open from 1pm to 5pm with £ 5 tickets available on the St Peters and St James Hospice website. Children register for free and a card will be provided. Refreshments will also be available as well as free roadside parking, spoil daddy and take him away.
One job worth doing this weekend, if it isn’t already finished, is pinching off the tips of fuchsias and bedding plants to encourage more bushy growth. You can delay the flowering of plants but the end result will be worth it. I have a lot of fuchsias in Driftwood and it really helps keep them from getting too long and creates pretty shaped shrubs as part of the garden displays.
A big job that I completed this week was pruning the large Elaeagnus hedge on the garden side of the beach. The garden is always full of birds and I left it so late I was worried there would be a lot of nesting there too. It made a real difference by making it easier to access the garden.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-11 17:36:00
