Fact Sheet 36
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THE GARDENERS DIARY
WEEK 36
5th June 2005
THE DIARY THE FLOWER GARDEN: Time to save the wet stuff! Watering will soon be the most major and time consuming job throughout the garden and anything which will help ease some of this burden is a God's send. In amongst shrubs and herbaceous areas a good mulch of bark or cocoa shell will not only help lock some of the moisture into the soil but will also help make your life a lot easier on the weeding side. You could use a self watering system with an automatic timer. This can help all that time spent with watering can. By connecting all your tubs and basket up to a system like this you could save a lot of time although it will cost you. Water butts can also be an ideal way of reducing the water bill through the summer months giving you a natural source of moisture which plants can benefit from. Connect a water butt up to every down pipe where it is physically possible via a rain saver device. One thing to do is to keep this water from stagnating remember to use some water butt refresher which will stop the still water from smelling.
THE GREENHOUSE: Keep the greenhouse constructive.
You may now have plenty of room now available in the greenhouse with crops and bedding plants being moved into the border. What seemed a hive of activity can now become a little quiet especially if you haven't grown any indoor vegetables or fruit. Do not despair as their are wide range of jobs which can be started. Cuttings can now be taken on a wide variety of shrubs, conifers and alpines. On a majority of shrubs and conifers 3" cuttings are ideal. Remove the growth from the parent plant preferably from the young growth at the top of the plant. Strip off some foliage then make a fresh cut at a 45' angle just below a leaf joint. Then place this prepared end into some hormone powder or liquid then place into a mixture of 50/50 peat & perlite. This light and airy medium will allow the cutting to produce some healthy roots.
Try not to use any compost which contain any nutrients as the feed can hinder the development of the roots by burning them off. Place into a propagator and air every two to three days to allow excess moisture to evaporate until they have rooted. Once the cuttings have shown signs of growth pot on into individual pots and slowly grow on
FRUIT & VEG: Thin fruitlets out for a decent crop of fruit!
Thin out top fruit like apples, pears and plums. With the fruit now set the bunches need to be reduced in size to encourage large "supermarket" size fruit. If this isn't done you could end up with fruit that is so small it will vanish with just one bite. Questions often asked are how many do I take out and how many do I leave? Look at the sets of fruit hanging. First count how many of the fruitlets you have then take the smallest fruitlets and remove with a pair of snips or secateurs On a bunch which contains 5 or more fruitlets thin the cluster down to 2-3 fruit. On bunches of 3 then leave just the strongest fruitlet. On young trees ensure that there are no more than 2-3 bunches of fruit per stem. A young tree which is allowed to over fruit in its first years of cropping can easily become weak causing unnecessary strain on the branches weakening the tree causing branches to snap of in spells of high wind through the summer months.
DISEASE PROBLEM OF THE WEEK: Willow scab
If you possess a Willow tree you may have noticed the leaves discolouring with olive-brown blotches. These pustules are found on the underside of the foliage. At a closer inspection you will notice irregular dark canker-like spots upon the stems. These can girdle the stem and then cause further die back on the branches turning the foliage black and causing early leaf drop. To reduce the spread of this disease you will need to remove infected stems and dispose of them and then once the tree has lost all its foliage in the autumn remember to use a tar oil wash to sterilise and remove any over wintering pustules of the disease.
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 | 
