Welcome to May

Over the coming weeks gardeners will be planning ahead sowing seeds and bringing on flowers and vegetables to summer and autumn and these will be a mixture of perennial shrubs while the vegetable plot will provide the kitchen with a plentiful supply and excess harvest can be frozen for ongoing use during the winter.

Despite the cold weather of recent weeks many plants have suffered a setback in their growing life and it is hoped that things will soon warm up in the coming months.

However, remember the old saying ‘Never cast a cloot until May be oot’

Cherry trees brighten up gardens

The colour created by flowering cherry trees do a great deal to enhance beauty of the area all over Inverclyde. The blossom creates a colourful scene until the flowering ends or the rain and wind bring it to an unexpected end. Even then, the blossom lying on the road is a welcome sight even on a dull day.

While on the subject of trees, many may have noticed the colourful trees growing in Greenock Cemetery, many of which were obtained from overseas and planted over a hundred years ago. A walk through the paths of the cemetery will let you absorb the beauty of these trees.

Growing veg in the greenhouse

Just last week a reader spoke to me about growing vegetables in his greenhouse and told me that his cucumber did not seem to be growing well, although tomatoes were faring a little bit better. I said to him that cucumbers really need a higher temperature than tomatoes and this is likely to be the reason.

Vegetables such as marrows, meanwhile, can be sown from seed in small pots and grown on and potted into bigger pots as they increase in size. One of the best and hardiest vegetables to grow is kale and it will last throughout the winter and can be used in stews, eaten as a green or in soup. Courgettes are worth growing and can be sown in the greenhouse. They have many uses, including as a salad vegetable.

Sweetcorn can be sown in small pots in the greenhouse but it needs to be pricked out as soon as the first true leaves appear and the plants must be grown in a square formation as it is wind pollinated.

When growing plants in the greenhouse keep a wary eye open for aphids and place a couple of yellow panels in the greenhouse to deter these pests, as they can also spread disease as they move from one plant to another.

Celery is another crop worth starting off in the greenhouse and pot it up as it grows bigger.

Watch out for dampening off disease

When sowing seeds or after you have pricked out seedlings and are growing them on in trays, keep your eyes open for plants appearing to wilt. Nine times out of ten this will be dampening off disease, which leads to destruction of the plants.

This is caused by a fungal disease which is usually caused by overcrowding of plants and conditions being too wet.

Because it is a fungal disease it usually responds to copper treatment. The ideal way to prevent its formation is to treat all the seedlings and small plants with a solution of copper in order to prevent the formation of this dreaded disease.

Treat all your plants with a copper solution as well as pots and trays.

Avoid overcrowding your plants and do not overwater young ones. To avoid transmission keep your greenhouse as clean as possible and avoid high humidity.

Wash and sterilise canes and supporting stakes

It is a good idea to gather together all canes and supporting stakes and immerse them in a bucket of soapy water to which you have added a strong disinfectant and leave them in this solution for a day or two.

Then rinse them with clean water and let them dry before storing them in a shed, ready to be used when they are needed later in the growing season.

Encourage birds to visit your garden

It is wonderful to watch little garden birds around the garden and their antics are very amusing - as well as the sound of their twitters as they fly around.

Place nesting boxes to encourage little birds to create nests and place seed and fat balls in feeder.

Place a bird bath at a convenient location for them to have a wash. You can also place water in a dish for them to drink, but do replace the water daily. Try to keep everything around the birds nice and clean and do your best to brush up any seed which may fall on the ground.