Fact Sheet 37
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THE GARDENERS DIARY
WEEK 37
12th June 2005
THE DIARY THE FLOWER GARDEN: Top dress and deadhead roses With roses in the garden coming into flower now it can be worth top dressing with some fertiliser. Using a handful of fertiliser lightly hoe into the surface soil to encourage your prize bushes to bloom all summer long. Another job which also needs to be done is to keep deadheading which will also entice more blooms. This is done when the flower has finished, remove the browning flower and pick up any dropped petals. Trim down the stem at a point just above the first set of five leaves. This bud will slowly develop and hopefully produce another flower. On floribunda varieties remove each flower as it finishes then prune back.
THE GREENHOUSE: Clean up your act!
With containers and trays now lying empty don't feel inclined just to stack them back in the greenhouse until they are needed either later in the year or even next year. These containers can contain pests and disease. Used pots and containers should be cleaned and sterilised as they become empty. This is easily done by using an old plastic dustbin with the relevant solution mixed inside then place the empties into the liquid. Once you have plenty to wash and clean then just like washing up you dishes scrub 'em clean and then allow the dry before the placing them back in their storage area in the greenhouse or potting shed. Benching also should be scrubbed clean and all dead leaves and failed plants should be collected together and placed either in the dustbin, on the compost heap or burned.
LAWN CARE: Short back and sides !
With the lawn needing to be trimmed at least twice a week, one area which can be easily missed is the edges. The edges should be kept tidy otherwise the lawn can soon creep into your borders which can cause problems and slowly spoil the whole effect of the garden causing a lot of unplanned weeding.
PEST PROBLEM OF THE WEEK: Leaf cutter bees.
If you have noticed semi-circular notches in the leaves of roses and other garden plants for once this isn't the work of slugs or even weevils but a sign that you have leaf cutting bees visiting your garden. The damage caused is very distinguishable compared to the damage caused by other pests. The smooth outline and regular shapes of the missing parts of the leaf are easily recognised. The female bee uses the leaf pieces to construct thimble-shaped cells in the nest. The nest will probably be positioned in a tunnel, rotten log or even in the ground. They can also make use of soil from containers and the cells can resemble old cigar stubs. When the cell has been built the bee stocks it up with nectar and pollen and then lays a single egg and completes the cell by capping it with one of the cut pieces of leaf. One nest can hold around twenty cells. Control is very difficult it is often a price to pay to get your plants pollinated.
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 | 
