The motoring world is getting all excited at the moment. This is because a technical boffin has found that planting the humble willow is proving to be one of the best methods to suppress traffic noise. The saplings are planted close together and woven as they grow to form a thick hedge. Why they didn’t just ask a gardener in the first place beats me, still we might see some interesting council planting from the highway department on busy main roads in the near future. Willow is also great for making structures for your climbing plants to grow up. I do find that they tend to root a bit too easily and eventually the whole garden can be covered in the fast growing wood.
This year I have again gone for hazel sticks in the vegetable plot for pea and bean supports. The cut twigs do not tend to sprout leaves so readily. I have put the structures in place before the seeds go in, that way they wont disturb the seedlings when they come up. Staking plants can become a bit of an obsession in the garden. It has its advantages in the veggie patch because it stops the slugs eating your crop and prevents them from going mouldy. If you decide not to stake your borders you could save yourself a lot of bother. When one or two plants topple over, you stake them; then a couple more look a bit wobbly so they get the same treatment. Before you know it the whole garden is awash with sticks. To save you the bother try letting the plants topple over for a change.
They can look very attractive and more natural. To make the gardening even easier this year you will have an excuse not to feed these plants too. The less they are fed the less they will grow and the more unlikely they are to fall over. If you dislike the thought of flopped over plants then give up growing the worst offenders, such as delphiniums. Your life will be such a lot less stressful!
Horticultural.
This year I have again gone for hazel sticks in the vegetable plot for pea and bean supports. The cut twigs do not tend to sprout leaves so readily. I have put the structures in place before the seeds go in, that way they wont disturb the seedlings when they come up. Staking plants can become a bit of an obsession in the garden. It has its advantages in the veggie patch because it stops the slugs eating your crop and prevents them from going mouldy. If you decide not to stake your borders you could save yourself a lot of bother. When one or two plants topple over, you stake them; then a couple more look a bit wobbly so they get the same treatment. Before you know it the whole garden is awash with sticks. To save you the bother try letting the plants topple over for a change.
They can look very attractive and more natural. To make the gardening even easier this year you will have an excuse not to feed these plants too. The less they are fed the less they will grow and the more unlikely they are to fall over. If you dislike the thought of flopped over plants then give up growing the worst offenders, such as delphiniums. Your life will be such a lot less stressful!
Horticultural.
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