June Week 2

Mix of Clematis montana hybrids

Well the sunny weather has gone this week, hopefully this is just a slight blip until the summer comes back. However, the plants are growing regardless and there’s no shortage of beautiful flowers to be had in the garden right now.

I’m very glad I staked my Delphiniums and Paeony’s last week, providing them with bamboo canes and twine to make a mesh support. They will flower in the next week or so, so hopefully they should have the required structure around them to keep them upright if we end up getting our usual strong coastal winds.

One of the great sights to be seen down south at this time of year is the wisteria, beautiful cascading plumes of white/purple flowers covering buildings and walls, unfortunately though its a much more rare thing to see here in the Highlands. However I would say our equivalent here in the Highlands is the Laburnum. These are stunning small trees just dripping with yellow flowers, a not too distant relation of the Wisteria and thankfully a common thing to see in any town in the Highlands.

Right now is the best time to see them and there's plenty to be seen.

Laburnum anagyroides

Flowers

Now is a good time to trim and edge the grass verges around the flower borders, then put the waste into the compost heap.

Now we are into summer (Please let the weather know) weeding will always be a task that needs done.

Feed the flower beds, either organically, (Fish Blood & Bone) seaweed extract or comfrey tea. Or using Growmore, slow release capsules or miracle grow etc. I would always try and use the organic method where possible but sometimes for various reasons that isn’t an option.

Continuing my rose theme for the month, one of my must haves for the garden is “Dublin Bay”, a climbing rose bred in 1976. Of all the romantic ideals of roses, this variety lives up to the perfect ideal of the red rose. Beautifully formed in every way. It’s one draw back is its lack of scent but it certainly makes up for it in every other regard.

Rosa "Dublin Bay"

Vegetables

If your growing cucumbers, make sure they are tied into their supports as they should be getting quite a big bigger now.

Early broadbeans may need pinched at the tip now. This will allow them to focus more on developing the pods and less on growing from the tips.

Again like the flower beds, keep the edges neat and the weeds down to reduce competition.

Willow arch

This last week has certainly been quite the blip in the weather. Hopefully though that's all it is and we can all get back to doing what we love in the garden again. 

June Week 1

The first week of June already! We are fast approaching the longest day and with our days being just a bit longer now than down south we are nearly caught up with them in flowering time season.

I’ve been reflecting this week as it’s 10 years since the beautiful summer I spent working in Claude Monet’s Garden in Giverny, France.

Flower Garden in Giverny

I stayed in accommodation in the village and spent the weeks working in the garden, with weekends visiting Paris and Rouen. The highlight of my time was the much visited garden, the colours were so beautifully matched amongst all the herbaceous perennials and roses and of course the iconic water lilly pond.

I have a number of bearded Iris “Superstition” in my garden, all came from a corm I brought back with me, a seasonal reminder of my time spent with them in France- couper la fleur finie (Deadheading).

Flower Garden, Giverny

Flowers

Iris "Superstition"

June now and everything is coming up roses - Literally! One of the nations (and me) favourite flowers and June is their month. I have a number of roses in my own garden, old roses such as “Roseraie de l'hay” and “Charles de Mills” 1790 to the more disease resistant and perpetual flowering modern varieties by David Austin such as “Gertrude Jekyll” and “A Shropshire Lad”. There is always room in any garden for a rose and their absence is keenly felt in any garden missing such beauty.

Lupins are now in full flow, they do very well with my sandy soil and provide flowers from now till August at least with some good dead heading.

Keep watering containers and bedding plants planted out over the last few weeks and lastly don’t let the weeding get away from you.

Rosa "Charles De Mills"

Vegetables

Outdoor tomato varieties can now be planted outdoors, make sure to give a good watering.

Courgette plants can be planted outside now in sheltered areas.

Keep using and cutting salad crops.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on the compost heap now that it should be a hive of activity and turn it if it is required.

So many things to enjoy this time of year, it truly is a time for flowers of every type, so enjoy your favourite!

The Water lilly Garden, Giverny

May week 4

Acer palmatum dissectum "pendula"

This week I have been on leave from work for the week so its really been a chance to do some much needed work in my own garden. My own garden is on old fisherman's cottage in which I mainly grow herbacous perrenials, roses and cottage garden plants as well as a few more unusual trees and shrubs.

Dahlia "Bishops Children"

Catching up on the weeding has been my main task on my “bus man’s holiday” then planting up some shrubs, a Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' for it’s winter scented flowers and a Euonymus europaeus “Red Cascade” for its stunning autumn colour. I have also grown a number of Dahlia “Bishops Children” from seed which I have been preparing for going outside, some for my own garden and others for The Helmsdale Kitchen Garden. In between all these jobs I have been making sure to enjoy the garden, the Forget Me Knots (Myosotis alpestris), the Aqualegias and the Knapweed (Centaurea montana).

Flowers

Anemone trullifolia

Weeding is a never ending task now we have reached this point of the year. Last year I put some horse manure down in my own garden and this year it’s a constant fight with the grass growing from the seeds brought in on it.

Despite the occasional blips in the weather it is now safe to plant your bedding plants outside.

Primulas/Polyanthus which have finished flowering can be divided now to give you even more flowers next year.

One of the highlights is Anemone trullifolia, a small perrenial that flowers over a few weeks in late spring. Grows in part shade, in fertile but well drained soil.

Vegetables

If growing peas now is a good chance to sow some more to provide a longer season.

Start protecting strawberry beds, now they have finished flowering they will need netting to keep out the birds, and straw if possible to deter slugs. 

Potatoes planted earlier may need earthed up now. By putting soil on the emerging shoots you encourage a bigger crop.

If growing runner beans, they can be planted outside now. At HKG because of the regular strong winds we grow all our runner beans in the polytunnel but if you have a sheltered spot it’s worth experimenting with, just make sure to give them the required support.

View of  my own garden

Even when on leave a gardeners work is never done but always make time to enjoy the season. 

May week 3

Polytunnel showing baby carrots

Well May certainly disappeared this week,

snow, then rain, then hail and a constant cold north wind thank goodness for polytunnels. With this weather our polytunnel is weeded and never been in such good condition! Despite the wintry weather the garden continues to grow at full speed, our Rhubarb is providing the first few stems for harvest, our Asparagus shoots are now opening and the Cherry Trees are now in bloom.

Work in the garden has taken a slight pause with the colder weather, we have held back on planting out a lot of our seedlings now until the weather warms up. Instead we have been focused on improving our water collection facilities and weeding the Polytunnel.

Flowers

Aquilegia sp.

We are now approaching the later part of the Spring seed sowing season and with it comes the time to start sowing bi-annual seeds. These are things like Forget-Me-Knots, Foxgloves, Bellis etc. So if you sow this week you’ll have a beautiful display next year.

Keep on top of the weeding, and you’ll be thankful you did in the summer.

May is a great month for flowers and certainly a very rewarding one is Aquilegia (Grannys bonnet). Very easy to grow from seed, one plant will seed itself around the garden and you will never be short of Aquilegia again!

Strawberries in polytunnel starting to turn red

Vegetables

Continue to sow vegetables.

 If your weather has been cold make sure not to plant anything out and keep them under shelter at night until the warmth and risk of frost has gone.

Potted up tomoatoes will soon need to be planted into their final positions for the summer, once they reach adequate size.

Blue Kale

This weather has certainly been a change from the last few weeks, but it has brought with it some much needed rain. And hopefully we will be back to some warmer weather soon.

May week 2

View of the polytunnel

Of all the months for good weather and scenery in Scotland, I always think May is one of the best and this is certainly something that has been proved this week. In the garden we have been busy, sowing and planting with the occasional weeding for good measure.

We have been planting up the Basil, Parsley, Onions and Leeks and sowing Parsnips and carrots.

Our Courgettes seedlings are now big enough to be planted in the polytunnel beds and will soon keep us supplied with a steady stream of Courgettes throughout the summer.

Basil after planting

Flower Garden

The risk of frost still hasn’t really passed yet so do still be careful with the non hardy things (Dahlias, Summer Bedding, Pelargoniums etc.)

Keep on top of the weeding, as the soil is now warmed up weed seeds will grow and soon take over if not caught in time.

Climbing roses and other climbing plants should have some growth on them now which will need tied into supports.

With this dry spell we are having at the minute keep on top of the watering, particularly on any newly planted flowers, shrubs and trees.

One of best ground cover plant is Galium odoratum  (Sweet woodruff) which is looking stunning at this time of year, covered in its little white star flowers. It likes semi shade to shade, moist humus rich soil, but it soon spreads and keeps out the weeds.

Sweet Woodruff growing with bluebells. 

Vegetables

Courgettes planted

Similar to the flowers beds, keep on top of the weeds. Continue sowing and planting. We are reaching the last chance to sow a number of things, Courgettes, Squashes, Cucumbers etc. So if you haven’t done so already do so as soon as possible.

Continue sowing salad crops where ever you have space, great for filling in gaps in the beds.

And keep on top of the watering, especially during this current dry spell.

May is a beautiful month with so many different flowers on show and unusually for Scotland we have the weather to enjoy them too!

Tomato plants, Tigerella 

May week 1

Rhubarb beds looking towards vegetable garden

One of the most important but so often neglected steps in good gardening is planning. A friend contacted me the other day to say “I’ve dug a area of ground to put plants in. What work should I do with the soil?” So I asked, “What’s plants are going in?” Emmmm I don’t know, Nice things”. Was the response.

Before you undertake any task in the garden or buy nice plants, take an hour or two in an evening and just plan. Look at photographs of other gardens/vegetable gardens, see what you like, what you don’t and use that as your first steps to decide what your going to create. This will give you the basic plan you will need to get started. Too often we go to the garden centres/on line shopping and come back with all these plants, that looked nice but then they don’t like where we put them or worse we can’t find the room for them.

This week in the Helmsdale Garden planning has been the big focus this week. We have grown all our seedlings, Peas, Broad Beans, Kale, Turnips etc. And we now need to plan which plants are going in which bed to make sure we have a plentiful supply of each crop though out the summer season.

Netting attached to shed wall for Sweet Peas.

Flower Garden

We are entering May now but we aren’t guaranteed frost free nights yet, so please take caution.

A lot of the herbaceous perennials, will start to need staked now, things like the Peonys,  Delphiniums and possibly lupins (in wind prone areas).

Sweet peas that have been planted out will need to be trained up netting now.

One of the garden highlights of the next week to look out for is Clematis montana. Lots of different varieties to choose from, all stunning. Good rich moist soil, but requirements are quite light as not a demanding plant. Prune once it’s finished flowering if required.

Newly made wooden arch for Runner Beans.

Vegetable garden

Plant out vegetable seedlings now with some protection if possible and keep well watered.

Tomato seedlings may need potted up now before they go into their final home.

Continue to sow if you have the space to continue the vegetable production.

Sow lettuce crops in between vegetable crops to make sure all space is used efficiently.

As we enter May, things in the garden are about to get even busier but do make sure to take time to enjoy it and also set aside some time to plan!

Clematis montana in full bloom

April Week 4

Peas being planted

What beautiful weather this week, non stop sun; not a sentence you get to write very often about the Highlands! But with this sun comes a drying easterly breeze so keeping on top of the watering has been the big challenge this week. Twice daily, morning and evening for all the vulnerable seedlings.

Lots of jobs done this week in the garden, Peas planted out, netting put up for the Sweet Peas, Brassicas planted and protected from frosts with fleece (Kale, Kohlrabi, broccoli etc.) grass cutting, shrub planting, weeding, the list goes on. But such perfect weather to do it in.

Flower Garden

Many flower seeds sown in seed trays may need pricked out now. This means separating the seedlings in the tray and potting them on into individual pots to let them grow on until the risk of frost has disappeared and they can be planted outside.

Dahlia tubers can be planted outside now but plant them deep enough so that the shoots wont appear until the risk of frost has gone.

Finished Spring flowering shrubs and those grown for winter stem colour can now be pruned; Forsythia, winter flowering Viburnum, dogwoods etc.

Tulips are really a highlight at this time of year. Planted in autumn and as long as you don’t keep planting them in the same area your guaranteed flowers. You need to plant new tulips every year as they rarely flower for a second year. Always plant them in large numbers as the colour impact of the flowers are lost on their own.

Tulipa praestans

Vegetable Garden

Radish "Cherry Belle"

Continue sowing seeds.

Finish planting the last of the main crop potatoes.

A lot of the hardy vegetable seedlings can now be planted outside, try and harden them off first before planting outside, either cover with fleece or put in cold-frame for week or so before planting into the ground, this would be things like the Brassicas, the Onions, Peas, Broad-beans etc.

Keep on top of the weeds in the vegetable garden, now warmer weather is here and the soil is warm the weed seeds are now sprouting in abundance.

Plenty to do in the garden and the weather to do it in. What more could your want. Just please make sure to keep on top of the watering, especially with your seedlings!

Runner Bean "Enorma" seedlings being planted