WHAT TO DO THIS Month
Spring clean houseplants, sow a cut flower patch, feed roses, plant summer bulbs and more
SOW SWEET PEAS
This is the month to sow sweet peas if you haven’t already done so. The neat idea pictured here involves using newspaper pots and recycled plastic bottles as mini propagators to create the warm, humid conditions sweet peas need to germinate.
To make newspaper pots, cut the sheets in half and fold them to the right height (about 15cm). Take the end of a rolling pin and roll the paper into cylinders, tucking the bottom end in and securing with tape. Sow your sweet pea seeds two to a pot in seed compost and water with a fine rose on the watering can.
Place the cut end of a plastic bottle over each newspaper pot. It doesn’t matter if the bottle is green while seeds are germinating, but a clear bottle is better to use as a cloche for growing on outdoors.
Prune hydrangeas
Faded hydrangea flowers make an attractive feature in the winter garden, and leaving them in place provides hibernation homes for ladybirds and lacewings. But now is the time to remove them to make room for fresh growth. Pruning techniques vary according to hydrangea type:
● Mopheads, lacecaps and serratas Cut these back now to just above the first new bud below the flower. Also remove any weak, spindly stems down to the base to encourage strong new shoots.
● Hydrangea paniculata and H. arborescens Prune each stem back in early spring to the lowest healthy buds.
● Climbing hydrangeas Prune in summer after they’ve finished flowering.
Feed acid-lovers
Ericaceous (acid-loving) plants such as blueberries, azaleas and camellias need to grow in soil with a pH of 6.5 or less. If you don’t have acidic soil, you can plant compact cultivars in pots of ericaceous compost such as Westland Gro-Sure ericaceous compost (£7.99 for 50L bag).
Whether grown in the ground or in pots, ericaceous plants need a specialist fertiliser, too. This can help prevent yellowing leaves by providing chelated iron, and trace elements such as manganese that will encourage healthy growth.
Don’t forget that compost materials can affect soil pH too.
● Alkaline additions that raise pH include mushroom compost, manure and council green waste.
● Acidic and neutral additions that lower pH include leaf mould, composted bark and pine needles.
