New broom
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HOW many part-empty bags, cartons, bottles, skoosher bottles, sachets of chemicals, fertilisers, soil improvers, and so on, do you have knocking about in corners of the garage, shed or greenhouse right now? I certainly found a couple the other day. What do you do in the circumstances?
Firstly, some of these items will store successfully for a couple of years if they are kept in dry, frost-free conditions, and so long as the container has been securely fastened.
The smart Alecs will always tell you that you should only buy as much as you are going to need at any one time, so you should never have any dribs and drabs of leftovers knocking about. Aye, pull the other one. That is the most expensive way to do it.
There are exceptions, especially when it comes to fertilisers such as the one-off lawn fertiliser application I mentioned last week.
Where that is concerned, I certainly buy the package or combination of packages that will give me enough for one application. If the quantity comes slightly under or slightly over, I make the application fit the area.
The sensible view is to start each season with fresh products, and if you have a few packages/bottles containing small quantities of pesticides or weedkiller, the best way to dispose of them is to mix the material with the requisite amount of water and spray it out as was originally intended.
Never dispose of the neat material down the drain or anywhere that would allow it to contaminate running water. As I have said before, if I have any material left over, as a last resort I would look to spraying it on to bare ground which is not being cropped and where it will biodegrade very quickly.
Empty bottles, cartons, and so on, can be rinsed and that liquid also sprayed out. The containers can then be disposed of with other material of the same type – glass, plastic, and so on.
If you have any significant quantities of such materials then it is best that you contact your local authority for advice. In that regard, I did take the trouble to look up my wee bookie, Waste Aware Grampian Reduce, Reuse Recycle, to help you get it sorted.
There is good advice on a range of things – even where you can dump an old engine – but no mention is made of garden chemicals, as far as I could see. Someone on the other end of 0845 600 5 333 might be able to help.
Sharpening tools
While some sharpening jobs ought to be done by specialists, it is relatively easy to sharpen secateurs, hedging/edging shears and knives using a sharpening stone or “steel”. Do you ever think of sharpening the edge of your hoe or, indeed, your spade? It is easily done and certainly makes the work a great deal easier.
At the same time, it pays to smear the blade surfaces with an oily cloth. As a result, at the end of the working day, the soil adhering to the blade is easily removed and then the surface is once again cleaned off with that oily rag.
Cultivate that soil
This is the month when we can really start to prepare the soil for the coming growing season, and I am often asked why it is necessary to dig, add organic matter, fork over, consolidate and rake level when, in nature, the seeds fall to the ground and, before you know it, there is a forest of seedlings popping up everywhere.
Yes, that’s true, and they are popping up as I speak in the garden borders here at home, and cultivations have hardly started.
Well, of course, the natural seedlings are responding to their genes because they are “at home”. Many of the plants we grow in the garden are not natives and therefore need a little more attention. We also tend to use the ground more intensively because we are looking for some kind of return, whether it be visual or to give a decent crop. The soil has to be kept healthy and in good physical condition if it is to produce the goods.
Let’s start with this material, “organic matter”, which describes any additive that derives from an organic source and which is added to the soil in bulk. We talk about it improving drainage or helping to hold moisture on lighter soils, of it creating air spaces and, as it finally breaks down, adding to the nutritional reservoir to feed plants.
In another sense, it is not indestructible. It can be likened to fuel – running a vehicle, say, or providing heat – in that it gets used up and, if nothing is done, it will disappear from the soil.
That spells disaster, as I have described to you before. So if we are to cultivate plants successfully, we need to keep replacing that which gets lost, and that is why we dig in bulky organic material.
Indeed, it is also why we recommend mulching; eventually, that too will be pulled down into the soil by worms. It is a bit late to be adding bulky organics now, but if you have really well rotted, crumbly farmyard manure, home-made compost or weathered spent mushroom compost, they are ideal for incorporating at this time.
If the soil in borders has been beaten down by winter weather, now is the time to slacken it up using the aptly named border fork, one my favourite tools.
Smaller than the conventional digging fork, it can be used among herbaceous plants, roses, soft fruit, and so on, turning over the soil to a depth of four or five inches (10-12.5cm), knocking it about a little in the process to leave an even surface.
Some of the important consequences of this job are to help surface drainage, allow easier air penetration and, as a result, help to raise soil temperatures. The same process can be gone through in the vegetable plot as we approach the time for the first sowings and plantings.
This is a time when the use of a rotovator is to be recommended. They are ideal for creating a good tilth – but must not be used on sodden ground.
To be honest, given the average size of gardens nowadays, it is not the thing to be spending money on. If you have a sizeable allotment, it would certainly come in very useful.
Later in the season, when one crop has been harvested and you are preparing to plant the next, the rotovator comes in extremely handy.
Having tilthed up the ground, you then see us tramp all over it – what’s goin’ on ’ere?
Especially important if you are about to sow seeds, it pays to consolidate whether planting or sowing. As well as trapping air and preventing excessive loss of moisture by evaporation from the surface, an evenly consolidated surface layer will help to achieve even germination and establishment of young transplants.
Before raking to achieve a true surface and remove larger stones, it is customary to apply a dressing of general fertiliser which will become available to the young plants within 10 days to fortnight, just when the roots are beginning to colonise the surrounding ground. Don’t overdo it now.
