CLIMBERS

I’ve been busy in the kitchen this week. The summer surpluses of tomatoes are starting to come and I am doing my best to keep up with the prolific growth of the fruit. I am boiling up the tomatoes and putting the pureed mixture into bottles. These are quickly filling up the shelves in the freezer compartment of the fridge. Tomatoes are probably going to be the only thing I will freeze this year. Last year I froze green beans and courgettes but they were still floating around in the freezer up to a few weeks ago. For some reason I just didn’t fancy eating them, so they’ve ended up on the compost.

I made some soup out of a large cucumber that was hiding under a pumpkin leaf in the poly tunnel. The thing had grown to immense proportions and I thought it would be worth experimenting with. The soup was all right, but I don’t think I could eat it very often, it reminded me too much of courgette which I’ve had enough of this year.

Onions are ready for lifting now. I did mine this week and as I planted them with garlic I thought they could come up as well. The garlic really should have been lifted a few weeks ago as the stems have died down now. To find the bulbs I had to dig down with a trowel to unearth them. Half I will use over the coming months and half will be divided up and planted back into the garden next month. I would be loathed to loose this particular type as it has been especially produced to give a good yield in wet, northern areas. Now it’s time to look at what I can plant in the areas that are now bare soil. I like to keep these areas planted up as it stops the weeds from taking hold. There are quite a few things that can still be planted such as parsley, spring cabbage, onions for an early crop, and of course spinach, which will be a great provider early next year. I might even go for a green manure such as mustard or tares. These will not only keep the weeds down but will bring up valuable nutrients to the surface for next years crops.

CLIMBERS

Most gardens have some sort of climbing plant. Choosing the right one for the site can often be a bit daunting. The first thing to think about when choosing a plant is to look at the way in which the plant actually climbs. There are three ways that plants climb. Some have aerial roots that cling to a structure, such as ivy or the climbing hydrangea. These are very efficient at attaching themselves onto walls. They therefore can be a bit of a nuisance if they are attatched to the pebbledash at the front of the house when it comes to painting. The second method is twining, such as clematis; these twist their leaf stems around a support to hold themselves up. If these are on a house wall then some form of support is needed. This can be very useful if the plant is grown on a trellis attached to the wall, as it can be unfastened and the plant laid on the floor if the wall needs a lick of paint. The third category is the climbers that scramble. Plants such as honeysuckle and rambling roses fall into this category. They have no means of support except to push their long branches through a host plant or tree or trellis. They can be used to great effect when grown in a mixed hedge. There are other plants that like the protection of a wall and can be trained against it. The pyracantha is a good example and with its long spikes it makes a good line of defense under windows. Then there’s a couple of ceanothus that are evergreen and grow well around here, they can be used effectively to cover unsightly bare patches on walls. There’s also cotoneaster, viburnum and escallonia to consider
Some climbers would be a bit out of place growing on the walls of the house. The Virginia creeper for example would grow so fast that it will cover your doors and windows in the time it takes you to do the weekly shop. It’s a brilliant plant for covering sheds and telegraph poles. This climber is deciduous though and most of the fastest growing plants do tend to loose their leaves in winter.

STYLE

The look of a house can be greatly improved by a climber. Take care to choose one that will thrive. Firstly check to see which direction your house is pointing, this will influence the choice of plant that can be used. Secondly decide on the scale of the support. If you have bold features on the house then thick trellis could be used with a large leaved plant such as a Virginia creeper. You might decide to go for some thing a bit more delicate and use wire supported by vine eyes. These are small ringlets that the wire passes through.. They do need a bit of D.I.Y knowledge and a big drill to fix them to the wall.

CARNATIONS

Before I forget again (I have been meaning to mention this for three weeks now). If you can get your hands on some white carnations and some food colouring then you can amaze your friends. Put the flower stem into water and pour in the food colour. Within a day or two the flower will change to the colour of the water. It’s a good experiment to show children about how plants take up water too.

Horticultural.