Weeds in spring!

Add warm sunshine, gentle rain and presto! A very healthy crop of weeds. So these past few weeks I have been digging them up.

I have been using the daisy lifter-weeding tool (looks like an odd toasting fork!) This really gets out the deep-rooted weeds such as dandelions.

With perennials shooting and so many lilies just showing above the surface I didn’t want the risk of decapitating anything so have not been using the hoe.  Some weeds I do allow to remain, such as the cow parsley because it's pretty. I keep a strip just inside the hedge, as it is glorious when in flower, like Queen Anne’s lace. Insects love these flower heads. To keep it in check,   I chop it all down as soon as it starts to set seed.

Seeds.

Having just found a box of seed packets left over from previous years I decided that after weeding I would scatter these seeds. In my imagination there will be drifts of poppies, cornflowers and pot marigolds plus many more. A riot of colour- I hope.

Tomatoes.

These are now very strong plants, twelve have been planted in, the end bed of the conservatory and twelve in the raised vegetable bed so will be able to see where they do best.

Vegetable beds.

I have two raised vegetable beds each 6-x 4ft. These are in a corner of the car park. This area gets plenty of sunshine, is protected from winds and also near a water barrel.

So far I have Mange Tout peas, about 5 inches tall, carrots, just germinated, plus first sowing of salad stuff.  The second bed will be for dwarf French beans, butternut squash spinach.

Grass/lawn.

It is growing well now, but you should resist the urge to give it a very short cut because it creates space for weeds and moss to grow. Also this is the time of the year to give your lawn a feed, many types of lawn feed are available.

Thinking about feeding, I have just scattered two large tubs of Rooster pellets (natural fertilizer) all over the garden. It is best to do this just before it rains so the pellets break down and are washed into ground.

This is also the time to feed daffodils that are now dying back. After deheading, them scatter bonemeal around them.

Success story

The Auriculas. All grown from seed and flowered for the first time. They like a cool aspect, and to be on well-drained, slightly gritty soil. I shall be starting off a new batch to see if I can extend the colour range.