IF slugs are dining on your lovely hostas and eating large holes in the leaves, now is the time to make up a batch of garlic spray.
– Take two full bulbs of garlic cut in half and add to two litres of water in a saucepan.
– Boil until soft and squishy and use a potato masher to extract as much of the garlic as possible. (Your kitchen will be a bit smelly, if you like garlic fin, if not, open your windows!!
– Sieve out all the skins leaving a cloudy liquid, which will become your concentrate. Keep in an empty screw top bottle.
– Dilute approx one park concentrate to 10 parts water, best in a garden sprayer.
– Spray your hostas once a week.
– Remember to apply more regularly during wet weather.
And if you are growing hostas in pots, just remember they need lots of water and a shady spot.
CARE FOR CAMELLIAS
HELP keep plants growing in pots healthy and ensure good flowering by watering regularly, ideally using rainwater.
Feed them fortnightly from now through to the end of July, using a liquid ericaceous plant fertiliser.
SOW BIENNIALS
FOR colourful blooms next spring, sow seeds outdoors where you want them to flower.
Choose a sunny, sheltered spot with well-drained soil, remove weeds and rake to a fine level surface.
Make a shallow channel with a stick and water before sowing your seeds, then cover lightly with soil.
Alternatively start seeds off in trays on a windowsill or in a greenhouse. Prick out into pots when seedlings are big enough to hand a grow on in a sheltered spot outside. Plant out in the garden in early autumn and water in dry spells.
Honesty, above, has pretty purple or white flowers with distinctive silvery seedheads. They self seed freely and is loved by pollinators. Likes sun or part-shade and grows to a height of around 60cm.
Brompton Stock flowers in shades of pink, mauve, red and white. It prefers a sunny spot and as a cut flower they are long-lasting. A big plus is they arae highly scented. H45cm
Sweet William is great for cutting, likes a sunny spot and comes in shades of red, pink and white. Loved by pollinators. H45cm
Hesperis ‘Dame’s violet’ has elegant. Stalks with cluster of flower in rich-purples through to white. Best in sun but will tolerate some shade. A standout feature is it’s sweet-scented flowers. H90cm
TRIM TRAILING PLANTS
CUT back spreading and trailing plants such as Alyssum and Aubrietia after flowering to keep them compact and encourage new growth.
If these plants are left unpruned they can become leggy and look tatty.
Author: Ros
Author of What's On and Life In The Kitchen!