GARDEN + GARDENING + GARDENING TIPS & ADVICE

The taste of shop brought strawberries just can’t get near to home grown ones, but many of us think they’ll be difficult or expensive to grow. Well don’t be put off, just follow a few simple guidelines and you’ll be eating your very own strawberries in no time!

Get good quality plants
Make sure you get good plants to begin with or they will always struggle. Don’t be tempted by the cut-price, brown looking specimens you often find in the garden section of DIY stores – go to a proper garden centre, or better still find your local nursery. They are generally cheaper anyway and will know their stuff so you can get handy tips from them (plus you’ll be helping support a local business).

Or grow your own
If you’re feeling brave, you can grow you own plants from runners – just find a friend or neighbour with some healthy looking plants and look for runners growing out of the side (they start off as a tendril or stalk which grows out from the base). When it gets to a certain length it will sprout a set of leaves and start to grow its own roots from the bottom. Carefully snip the runner away from the main plant, trim off the rest of the stalk and put it into a pot of compost, making sure that the ‘crown’ (the top of the brown bit the leaves sprout from) is just at the surface of the soil. Make sure it’s well watered and put it in a warm, frost free place – I leave them outside as I think it makes them hardier. Not all runners will take, so do some extra ones, but I get a pretty good success rate and they are free after all!

Get the ground prepared (about a month before you start planting)
Be sure to dig the ground over properly and take out all the weeds as they will rob the goodness from your plants. Dig in some compost to add nutrients and organic matter and you’re ready to go.

When to plant
I normally plant in the spring but you can get away with planting as late as September.

How to plant
Lightly soak your plants to get them out of their pots without damaging them. When you plant them, make sure the ‘crown’ is just at the surface of the soil and make sure you don’tleave any roots exposed. You can adjust the spacing to fit the room you have, but a good guide is to keep them 40-50cm apart. Some people plant them through a layer of weed suppressing membrane which seems to work really well but I use purpose built strawberry planters to save space.

Looking after your plants
Make sure you water your plants well during spring and summer (especially if it’s hot) and keep them well weeded. They will benefit from being fed – a seaweed or other liquid fertilizer is fine, but don’t feed them while they’re fruiting.
While they fruit, you need to keep the strawberries dry and off the ground to stop them rotting – you can use a handful of straw or a ‘strawberry mat’ for this. The birds will try to eat the strawberries before you can get to them so make sure you net them off and get something rigged up to scare them away (a plastic bottle on the end of a cane works quite well).
A plant will only last for around 3 or 4 years before the fruit becomes poor quality but you can always use the ‘grow your own’ approach (described above) to get replacements. Strawberries can suffer from replant disorder so if you’re planning to replant in the same spot, dig out the soil an

Fruit cages
Garden Net

Check out important info about the topic of heirloom organic seeds – study this web site. The times have come when proper information is truly only one click of your mouse, use this possibility.

So many people love the look and the fragrance that roses will add to their home and garden. Roses can be planted in your garden and can be the focal point of any front yard design. They make a great addition to any yard and serve a variety of purposes in your landscaping.

To start with, growing roses requires some time and skill. One of the most important things to know when growing roses is how to prune them. By pruning your roses you can direct their growth. You will have to make your roses grow where you would like them to rather then just letting them do what they do naturally.

You need to guide your rose bushes as to where to grow as in width and height. Only allow them to grow in the space you have set for them. You must keep in mind that roses need some space to grow in.

Pruning in different ways results in different looking rose bushes. By pruning the roses you encourage them to expand in different places. Be sure to plant your rose bushes in a sunny spot, as they enjoy the sun.

You can encourage your roses using some garden stakes along walls and walkways. What is pretty growing up a trellis is some climbing rose bushes and the trellis helps them grow in an upward direction.

Always keep in mind that growing roses takes time. It is a project that needs to be stuck with. When you are getting started growing roses, it requires a lot of your time and patience. Knowing how to do it helps a great deal when using rose bushes in your landscaping.