Fact Sheet 47
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THE GARDENERS DIARY
WEEK 47
21st August 2005
THE DIARY THE FLOWER GARDEN: Trim Coniferous Hedges. If you possess a coniferous hedge of Leylandii then this week should be spent giving the hedge its annual trim to prevent the hedge overgrowing. It will also allow new growth to ripen ready for winter. Try not to leave a flat top to the hedge. Rounding it off will help your screen through the winter months especially it there is snow. The rounded top will allow large amounts of snow to fall off the top of the hedge where a flat top will allow the snow to just sit and cause the growth to fan out and spoil the appearance of the hedge causing irreparable damage. Tapered sides will also help with this. Try and not trim too far into the old growth as coniferous plants sometimes can find it hard to replace growth on older and tired stems. Once trimmed give the hedge a good feed with a conifer and shrub fertiliser and mulch well with some bark to help with weed growth and water retention.
THE GREENHOUSE JOBS: Remove Cues!
Inside the greenhouse indoor cucumbers now need to be removed if they have finished cropping. Remove the plants and place them on the compost heap. If the plants showed sign of disease then throw them either in the incinerator or the dustbin. Once removed sterilise the greenhouse. FRUIT & VEG: Turn attention to rhubarb plants. Keep an eye on Rhubarb plants. They shouldn't be allowed to flower. If you do allow this to happen, the plants energy and goodness will go into producing the large panicle flower and this will sap the goodness out of the large crown root. Another job which needs to be done with your rhubarb plant is to give it a good feed with a general purpose fertiliser and mulch with some bark or cocoa shell to help maintain some moisture and suppress weed growth. If the weather is dry keep well-watered.
LAWN CARE: Start sowing new areas of grass.
Areas of lawn you have been preparing can be seeded this week. Before sowing rake the area level. This will help remove any weed seedlings which are attempting to invade the area. Once raked into a fine tilth apply a general purpose fertiliser and rake this in carefully. Sow the seed thinly as this will allow you to remove any weed seedlings which should be easy to spot. Lightly tease the seed into the soil then keep well watered if the weather is dry. Allow the grass seed 14-21 days to germinate and then allow the blades to hold and thicken up. Do not cut until the grass is 10cm in height giving it a high cut with a hover mower if ;possible.
PEST PROBLEM OF THE WEEK: Wasps nests
just puff and run!
Wasps nest are a hive of activity at the moment and if you are one of the unlucky people who has one they can be a nightmare. We would recommend that you contact an expert to deal with the nest but if you want to tackle it yourself please be careful. First study the nest and earmark the entrance to it. Then take a trip to your local garden centre and get a powdered wasp nest destroyer Wait for dusk when all the wasps should have returned to the nest for the night and once activity has ceased puff the wasp nest destroyer into the nest and then make a sharp exit. Hopefully this will kill off the nest. If the nest can be removed after it has been killed off cut it open and find the dead queen wasp she'll be the size of a small mouse! PLEASE BE CAREFUL. DON'T FORGET IF IN DOUBT CALL IN AN EXPERT.
Listen to The Gardener's Diary with Luke Ashmead on BBC Three Counties Radio every Sunday afternoon at 2.00pm Contact The Gardener's Diary Here BBC Three Counties Radio 94.7, 98, 103.8, 95.5 and 104.5FM | 
