Get Sowing...
from our resident gardening expert, Nell Williams

As I write this in the middle of April, having already seen swifts swooping over the lawns at Forde Abbey, I hope that May is still going to be spring-like and we won’t have leapt into mid summer temperatures. The poor confused plants in my garden are all flowering out of sync!

May is a busy month for gardeners - lots to sow outside on the allotment or veggie patch, and lots of jobs to do in the herbaceous borders.

Lift and split clumps of snowdrops whilst still ‘in the green’ - this improves greatly their chances of surviving. Clumps of daffodils that have not flowered or produced little may be congested and can also be lifted and split. Feeding the newly replanted bulbs with a low nitrogen/high potash feed will help to encourage root growth.

Now is also the time to divide your spring flowering plants such as Leopards Bane (Doronicum), Lungwort, primroses and cowslips to propagate new stock. Lift the plant to be divided, and gently brush away the soil to allow you to see the roots clearly. Often the plant itself will have several ‘fi ngers’ of growth, each with their own roots, and these can be separated and replanted. Remember to give them a good water afterwards! Lungwort tend to flop over so cutting back some of the top growth will help the plant till it settles in.

Take cuttings of rosemary, sage, thyme and marjoram to increase your stock. Additionally these plants tend to become woody over time & get straggly, so growing replacement plants is a good plan.

Sow seeds of annual herbs and flowers. Nasturtiums, poached egg plant, cornflowers and marigolds look great mixed in with the veggies and help attract beneficial insects such as hoverfl ies and ladybirds to prey on those pesky aphids.

Sow seeds of herbaceous perennials such as Verbascum, Sidalcea, Eryngium, Echinops, Digitalis etc outside in a seed bed or cold frame.

Lots of garden centres, farm shops etc will be selling young plants of tomatoes, squashes, aubergines, peppers, beans and salad crops, so even if you haven’t managed to grow your own there’s still the opportunity to get some veggies going this year. In Spain I used to buy bunches of bare rooted tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and basil plants in the market, wrapped in damp newspaper and tied up very neatly with a bit of grass. Incredibly these plants used to survive despite the harsh treatment they received!

Its now warm enough to sow many seeds direct into your vegetable beds now. Examples include French beans, runner beans and peas, root crops ( carrots, beetroot, swedes, turnips) and of course salad crops. Successional sowings mean that the harvesting period is spread out, so sowing some every couple of weeks is a really good idea. Admittedly I tend to start off really well, then forget later in the season to do my repeat sowings, but such is life. Recycle old fi zzy drink bottles - cut the bottom off and they make great mini cloches which will help protect emerging seedlings from the ravages of slugs and snails.

If the weather is to continue like this, then mulching beds will help reduce water loss. Obviously this is great for beds with herbaceous perennials, or big veggies such as potatoes, squashes or beans but not appropriate for seedlings. Ensure that the beds have had a good soak first then cover the ground with compost, straw, newspaper, old manure, cocoa shells - whatever you have available. Also try and reuse your washing up and bath water for watering your garden.