The Lymington Directory April May 2019

In the Garden
with Alan Edmondson of
Bowercot Garden Design
April/May
Gardening Tips
• Plant new containerised roses and keep well watered if the weather is dry.
• Dormant dahlia tubers can be planted out towards the end of the month.
• Beware of buying half-hardy annuals too early. We can still have frosty nights.
• Clean up marginal plants in the pond early in the month.
• Earth up early potatoes when stems are about eight inches tall and repeat about
three weeks later. Maincrop potatoes should be planted by the end of the month.
• If frost is forecast protect blossom on fruit trees and bushes with fleece.
• Alpines should be flowering well. After flowering trim plants such as aubretias and
mossy saxifrages to promote fresh, compact growth.
• After heavy rain apply a two inch mulch between shrubs and border plants to
conserve moisture.
• Remove dead leaves from plants of Cordyline australis. Pull them off starting with the
bottom ones.
• Erect a screen of fleece eighteen inches high, around rows of young carrots to protect
them from carrot root fly.
• Prepare well manured planting holes for marrows, pumpkins or courgettes. Buy in
young plants and plant out later in the month.
• Pot up and keep a few plants of African marigold in the greenhouse with tomatoes –
they will act as a deterrent to whitefly infestation.
Alan Edmondson of Bowercot Garden
Design, Lymington, is a regular
contributor to BBC Radio Solent’s ‘The
Kitchen Garden’ formerly ‘The Good Life’.
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