Garden Centre

Friday, May 4, 2007

What a difference a month makes ...

In the four weeks since I started this blog, my garden has changed considerably. Everything has grown, despite much of it being cut back in the interim, and most of it has become very much greener – and these are the hallmarks of the late spring garden – growth and greenery. Comparing this to the April photograph, the really noticeable thing is that the blaze of yellow from my neighbour's Forsythia has gone and the whole picture is basically a landscape of greens. Of course it looks lovely, and if you’re keen on words, as I am, then ‘verdant’ is the one that comes to mind, but don’t be fooled, there’s nasty stuff going on under the surface that the canny gardener will be aware of.

To begin with, there are the weeds – it’s not just the plants that are racing into new growth now; the green tips on the bay tree and the laurel are matched by horrible new rosettes of dandelions and fresh ground elder leaves. The only way to deal with these monsters is to get in there and dig them out, taproots, suckers and all. While weed-killers remove the evidence of pernicious perennial weeds, they often fail to eradicate the root, which means in a few weeks the thing is racing away again, and if you don’t notice, it’s got dozens of offspring all over the garden before you can say ‘rake, hoe and dibber’.

Then there’s all that sappy green growth. It needs to be staked up or tied in now, before the flowering season is in full sway. My broad beans are doing their best to become sunflowers, and several of my climbers have grown eight to nine inches in the past week, with the perfect weather, which is great, but taller plants overshadow those that don’t get away so fast, and can make lower or slower growing neighbours into weak and sickly specimens, so keep an eye on them.

Making more of the green bits

And all that green can be a bit boring, to be honest. As the spring bulbs go over, and the early summer flowers aren’t even in bud, it’s all rather monotonous – this is the time to look at the role of water and statuary in your garden to add some interest to the leafy green period.

Labels: garden ponds, garden tasks, garden tips, weeds

The All Seasons Gardener at 10:03 AM

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