DIRTY MOP

I heard a rather humorous fact this week that pushed the boundaries of what I think is lazy. I know that some people live very busy lives and need services that offer to walk the dog or iron the clothes, but now you can get people to play your computer games for you. In America there is a service where the game is played up to a certain level whereby you can take control. This eliminates the boring bits at the beginning of the game and you can get straight into the excitement. There was another instance this week that I experienced and I can’t decide whether it was laziness or a lack of understanding about personal hygiene that prompted it. Let me explain. I was in a busy waiting room when the cleaning person came out of the toilets brandishing a very soiled, grey mop (with no bucket present) that had just been used to clean the spillages from the sink and apathetic aiming around the toilet bowl. Traipsing this through the busy waiting room was bad enough but without rinsing the mop the woman proceeded to get everyone, including me, to lift up our legs whilst she poked and prodded the germ ridden material on a stick underneath the chairs. What do you do or say under these circumstances? I was tempted to point out that different tools should be used for the toilet and the waiting area, but I just wasn’t brave enough. I turned into one of those people that would rather moan to someone else than do something pro-active and tell the woman myself. It was safer anyway, it’s never a good idea to insult someone with a weapon in their hands, especially one that has been down the toilet!

Environmental.

LEG CRAMP

Hello Ian.
I wondered if you know of any natural remedies for leg cramps. I am kept awake with the pain and irritation most nights. A friend of mine suggested quinine tablets, but I thought they were for malaria. Please can you help?

Reply:

Leg cramps are a very common problem, especially at night when you are rested. Before I suggest natural remedies to prevent the pain I will talk about the quinine suggestion first. You are correct that quinine is given for malaria, but it has been used for cramps as well. Many doctors prescribe quinine tablets for leg cramps. Quinine is the ingredient that gives tonic water its bitter taste. Many doctors and patients swear by it, but mixed results in clinical trials have cast doubt on its effectiveness.

On rare occasions, quinine can cause a significant reduction in the number of platelets in the blood that may result in the body being prone to bleeding easily. Because of this problem, and doubts about the drug's effectiveness, over-the-counter sale of quinine was stopped in the mid-1990s, although you can still buy quinine tablets because of the loophole for dietary supplements. The very small amount of quinine in tonic water (about 15 milligrams per 8 ounces) is low enough not to pose a danger, but probably too low to offer any benefit, some people seem to rely more on the gin that is added to the tonic to get a good nights sleep! Here are some simple methods that shouldn’t leave you with a sore head in the morning.

EASE THE PAIN

While it lasts, the pain from a leg cramp can be excruciating. Usually it goes away within a few minutes, though bad ones can cause lingering soreness. Typically, leg cramps affect the muscles in the calf or along the sole of the foot.

The best immediate response is gently stretching the taut muscles. With the calf muscles, you can do that by grasping your toes and then slowly pulling your foot toward you. Leaning forward against a wall while keeping your heels on the ground does the same thing. Just standing up and putting weight on the affected leg may help, though you should be careful about falling: Get some help if someone is there to assist you. Heat (from a heating pad or warm, not hot, water) or massaging of the leg and foot can also help muscles relax, although it's best to try stretching first.

PREVENTATIVE SOLUTIONS
Here are a few suggestions for preventing leg cramps before they happen:

Wear good shoes. Flat feet and other structural problems make some people particularly susceptible to leg cramps. Proper footwear is one way to compensate.

Loosen up the covers. Many people like to sleep under snug covers. But, especially if you're lying on your back, the covers can press your feet down, a position that tightens up the calf and the muscles along the bottom of the foot. Tight muscles are vulnerable to cramping. Just loosening the covers and sleeping on your stomach with your feet hanging over the bed can keep them relaxed.

Stretch. Stretching your calf and foot muscles before you go to bed can help prevent cramps in the first place. Use the same techniques that stretch the calf and foot muscles during a leg cramp. You can also try placing the front part of your feet on the bottom step of a stairway and slowly lowering your heels so they're below the level of the step.

Drink plenty of water. If you're active (that includes walking, gardening, doing housework), you need fluids to avoid dehydration. But don't overdo it. High amounts of fluids can dilute the concentration of sodium in your blood. This causes a variety of problems, including muscle cramps. How much you should drink depends on how active you are and the foods you eat. As we get older, we tend to forget to drink enough water because the thirst impulse becomes weaker with age. Some people also worry about adding more trips to the bathroom, especially at night, so top up your water earlier in the evening.

Sometimes muscle aches in the legs are confused with leg cramps. The difference can be important. Poor blood circulation in the legs may cause muscle pain when the muscles are in use, for example, while walking. Whereas muscle cramps most often occur when the muscle is at rest. Losing out on your valuable sleeping time has all sorts of knock on effects such as poor concentration and shortened tempers. As I am not in the medical profession I would advise a visit to your doctor if the symptoms persist.

Environmental, household.

HALTING CLIMATE CHANGE

(Click on title for a link to Cool Earth)

The world is massively overspending its carbon budget. Last year the global population released 9 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere creating the conditions for radical climate change. By 2025 this will rise to an annual 13 billion tonnes, by which time our environment will be catastrophically destabilised. The options we have for balancing the world’s carbon budget are limited. Of all the carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels since the start of industrial revolution, half have been made in the last 20 years. Our use of fossil fuels is accelerating so fast that sufficient cuts will not be made in time. The only change in human activity capable of delivering the cuts needed is tropical deforestation. Changes in land use account for over 2 billion tonnes of released carbon each year – equivalent to approximately 8 billion tonnes of CO2 - as much as the combined fossil fuel emissions of the US and European Union. The environmental value of curbing deforestation therefore exceeds anything deliverable by the Kyoto Treaty.

Carbon trading has so far placed no value on curbing tropical deforestation. Kyoto excludes protecting mature rainforest from its wish list. Preservation of tropical forest is nonetheless the single most effective means of abating global climate change. Since most deforestation is caused by marginal agriculture and low value logging, it makes no sense that a fair value is not placed on the environmental service provided globally by rainforest.

Cool Earth
Johan Eliasch – the owner of a 400,000 acres Amazon rainforest preserve, Chairman of Head NV and Deputy Party Treasurer of the Conservative Party in the UK- and former Pensions Minister Rt Hon Frank Field MP have created an organisation called Cool Earth to make some sense of the situation. Cool Earth is combining mass membership with the world’s biggest businesses and the world’s biggest eco-resources to halt climate change. By placing a fair value on the carbon locked up and absorbed each year by tropical forests, Cool Earth is enabling developed world consumers and businesses to fund directly local forest protection on a massive scale. Through investment in health, education and forest protection, Cool Earth say that they are tackling climate change by pricing deforestation out of the market. Protecting local communities is Cool Earth’s first priority. Long term protection of key eco-resources only succeeds when it is aligned with local people’s interests. Underwritten by Johan Eliasch, Cool Earth will protect 400,000 acres of forest in its first year - equivalent to 10% of Europe’s emissions - by creating wealthier, more secure futures for local people. By renting the environmental services of the tropics, Cool Earth think that they have the only scaleable answer to climate change. For more information go to www.coolearth.org

Environmental.

POTATO CARE

I’ve just received my vegetable seed order through the post. I’m having to practice being very patient resisting the urge to plant the seeds out too early. The golden rule for outdoor planting is – Not too early, not too deeply and not too thickly. Seeds will only germinate when the temperatures are high enough to allow growth to begin. Sowing in wet and near freezing soil is asking for trouble. After saying that I’m making a start planting some garlic in a dry spot in the vegetable patch. I’ll try hard to hold off until March until I plant most of my other seed. For the real enthusiast who wants to get an early start, cloches can be put out to both warm the soil and dry it out ready for sowing seed such as cabbage, early summer cauliflower, early carrots, lettuce, peas and broad beans. .

POTATOES
Potatoes can be grown in almost any soil; it is the best crop to grow in grassland or wasteland, which is to be turned into a vegetable plot. Earthing the potatoes up and their dense leaf canopy, which stops weeds growing, helps to clear the ground. In established vegetable plots don’t grow potatoes on areas where they have been planted within the last two years, as there could be a build up of pests such as eelworm that will cause yellowing leaves and tiny tubers.

EARLY POTATOES
Early potatoes are simply maincrop potatoes dug up when they are the size of duck eggs.
When you get your seed potatoes, put them in trays or egg boxes, resting them on some dry peat compost. Have the rose end upwards; this will be the end with the greatest number of eyes. Place in a frost-free room, out of direct sunlight so that sprouting can take place. This process is known as chitting. When the sturdy shoots are 2 to 3cm long they are ready for planting out. Don’t plant out soft or diseased seed.

Choose a sunny spot. If the soil wasn’t manured in autumn, then add some peat or compost to have the soil ready for planting in the next few weeks. If planting in grassland wireworm may be a problem, these are 1-2cm long, shiny, yellow grubs that attack the roots. You can use a chemical (Pirimiphos- methyl) to control these or an organic method perferably. Cut an old potato in half, cut out the eyes (to stop them sprouting) fix these on sticks and bury 10cm into the ground. Put one every square metre. The wireworms will be attracted to these. Check them every day and destroy any you find in soapy water. Do this before the seed potatoes are planted.

Potatoes dislike cold and wet conditions so unless you plant the spuds under black polythene, wait until the sun has warmed the soil and the danger of frost recedes.

Horticultural.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Ian
I have heard that Jerusalem artichokes make a good alternative to spuds, what are they and how can I grow them. Thanks E.M. by E-mail


Reply
There isn’t much to touch the humble spud. You can tire easily from eating pasta or rice everyday, but there’s nothing like a big bowl of mash to fill you up. Jerusalem artichokes would make a pleasant change to the usual fare but they do have a distinct flavour and not everyone likes the taste. Those that do will relish the soup that it makes. The plant comes from the North American plains and is related to the sunflower. Like the globe artichoke it is a member of the daisy family. It was introduced here from France in about 1617, so it has a long history of cultivation. It is very easy to grow but you need a large garden to accommodate them as they can reach up to and beyond two metres. It would make a great screen in the garden even if you didn’t eat it. In warm climates it will produce sunflower heads but here the season isn’t long enough. If you know anyone who has the crop then you could get some tubers from them to make a start. If not, garden centres usually stock them. As a guide, plant the tubers in March, 40cm away from each other in rows that are 75 cm apart. This way they will stand a chance of holding each other up. The plants need to grow until the leaves turn brown in autumn. Either harvest all of the tubers and pick some small ones to plant next year of do as the French do and leave the ones that stay on the stems in the ground to grow on for next year.

PREPARATION

Wash and scrub the tubers in water. If they are smooth, cut away the roots and tips. When peeled put them in water. Knobbly artichokes are best boiled in their skins for about ten minutes until half cooked. Then run them under the cold tap and peel the skins off.

Horticultural.

MARCH IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN

Photo: March is a good time to clean the outdoor pots.

Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one vegetable no garden should be without. Many varieties can be grown outside in summer with mixed results. For the best chance of success try growing them in patio pots or hanging baskets. The earliest crops will develop on plants grown under glass, ideally in a heated greenhouse, but an unheated one will do. I find that tomatoes will start off well on the windowsill but eventually they will get too large, the worst thing about this is that unless you have a very big window, you will be in darkness all summer because they will block off all of the light. Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed. Sow in a heated propagator to encourage quick germination. Don’t be tempted to feed the tomatoes until the first trusses have formed. If you ply them with tomato feed too early you will get loads of green foliage growth but tiny toms.

Strawberries
Home-grown strawberries are a welcome summer treat and runners planted now should flower in order to fruit this year. Choose several different varieties to spread the harvest season from June until late summer. Rooted runners, sometimes called crowns, you can get these off of a friends patch or buy named varieties from specialist fruit nurseries. Plants should be spaced 45cm (18in) apart in rows about 75cm (2.5ft) apart. When working out how much space you will need, remember that you'll need enough room to get between rows for picking. You can plant through a layer of black polythene to control weeds, but this looks rather unsightly. Covering plants with cloches will encourage earlier flowering, but do open cloches during the day to allow insects to pollinate the flowers.

Rhubarb
Cover rhubarb with forcing jars or old buckets to exclude light and encourage long tender stalks.

Celery
Sow seed in pots in the greenhouse during March and April to raise plants that you can plant out from May to June.

Prepare for outdoor sowings
There is no need to dig soil deeply every year unless you want to incorporate more compost, gravel or other soil conditioners. Forking over the surface to remove old crops and weeds should be sufficient for most people. It may be worth getting in a few dozen bags of mushroom compost each year; this can simply be raked over the soil for the worms to work in over the coming weeks.

Clean greenhouses and frames
Wash frames and cloches inside and out with soapy water to clean away any build-up of dirt. This ensures maximum light passes through the glass or plastic to reach seedlings and crops at this dull time of year.

Transplant evergreens
The soil starts to warm up in March, so this is an ideal time to transplant evergreen shrubs and conifers or to plant new ones, including hedges. Planting early means new roots start to grow almost immediately, helping the plants to establish quickly

TOP TIP
On sunny days try to get into the garden and clean up the containers and ornaments, they will brighten your plot for the rest of the year.

Horticultural.

IVY IN TREES

I sort of believe that ivy does no harm when it is left to grow up healthy trees and might even benefit them because of the diversity of insect and animal life that live in them. I was talking to a man on a donkey recently. He seemed to think that my theory about ivy is some way responsible for the apparent epidemic that has hit the trees in the Inishowen countryside (his tongue was firmly in his cheek I might add). I think he might have a point though. His theory is that the ivy not only grows up the trunk of the tree, it travels along the horizontal branches. The more the ivy spreads up the branches, the harder it is for the tree to produce leaves for itself. The reduced foliage on the tree means that it doesn’t get energy from the sun. This results in a weakened tree that will inevitably suffer a premature death. By the end of the conversation with the man on a donkey I think we came up with a suitable compromise. By all means grow ivy up trees. Trim the ivy back every year so the plant stays on the main bark before it encroaches onto the side branches. This way it will behave itself.

Horticultural.

SPRING TALK

SWILLY GARDENING CLUB

Last Monday saw the first evening of the Swilly Gardening Club in Buncrana. I went along to listen to John Toland from Limavady, talk about spring flowers in the garden. He brought his slide projector and over 100 pictures of his beautiful, 1/3-acre garden. John used to be a traditional gardener but things changed for him about 10 years ago after he joined the Alpine Society. Being involved in the worldwide organisation has turned John into a bit of a specialist in the subject of alpines and he is starting to win competitions around the country showing some rare and unusual specimens. John is now always on the lookout for collectable alpine plants and all of these go straight into his garden.

He particularly likes to collect primulas and some of his favourites were bred in Northern Ireland. The Boyne Valley primula and the Red Paddy come from Newry. Older varieties have been traced back to the 14th and 15th century when herbalists used to use them in medicines. The biggest problem that John faces when growing these plants outside is that vine weevil and leatherjackets love to eat the roots. When this happens, the plant just blows away. Blackbirds are a bit of a nuisance too as they sometimes pick the flowers off his plants the day before a show. It sounded impressive when he told us that he has 26 different types of snowdrops in his garden, but he dismissed this as very little, as there are over 600 types in the snowdrop family.

All these plants like our climate and can cope with the wet ground but for the alpines John makes special beds and rockeries. The soil for these has to be very free draining and contain lots of sand. His plants were all protected from the soil surface by a layer of grit and John keeps the beds clean of debris (such as fallen leaves and twigs) to reduce the chance of the plants rotting. Most of the work is done in spring and he leaves the summer for relaxing, (wise man).

When it comes to propagating any of the rare plants he has, he gives them all the same treatment. He is a big believer that the seed should be fresh as then the germination rate is much higher. As the plants produce seed he puts them straight into pots with a 50/50 mix of sand and soil. Labels are then put on and the pots are covered lightly with grit. These are then left outside in a sheltered spot where nature does the rest. This idea does away with the need for a greenhouse. Sometimes he has to be really patient as a few varieties of seed take about three years to germinate. At times he has had to wait five years! As a backdrop to some of the beds John uses early flowering plants such as Aquilegia, Thalictrum and Rhododendrons. To increase the stock of Rhododendrons he pins the bottom branches to the ground after putting a nick in the stem that touches the ground. In a few months the cutting has rooted and can be cut away from the parent plant.

MAKE AN ALPINE PLANTER
John had a very memorable alpine planter in his garden. Every so often a terracotta pot gets broken and instead of throwing it away he collects the pieces and creates a planter. It doesn’t really matter what size the pots are as you judge the amount of plants according to the size of pot. Fill the base of pot with a 50/50 sand soil mix then add the broken pieces of the pot and plant around them. You can get pleasing results by planting in other containers as well. Try planting in an old shoe or old pieces of wood. Anything goes as long as there is good drainage. Choose the plants carefully though and pick ones that will grow happily together as some alpines are very invasive once they get going and could swamp the other slower growing varieties. Most alpines take very easily from either cuttings or division if you want to increase your stock. It doesn’t really matter if they have flowers on them either, just pich them off.

Horticultural.

WILDLIFE HEDGE

Q.I want to create a wildlife hedge of Hawthorne and Holly. I have a large boundary and wondered if I could grow the plants from the seed of nearby trees.

A. Growing these plants from seed is a good idea but you will need plenty of patience, as they will take a while to establish. Remove the fleshy part of the fruit and mash them up. Put the goo into a bowl and you will find that the seeds will drop to the bottom, making them easy to collect. You can put the seed in the fridge for a few weeks, mixed with three times their volume of course sand. But an easier way is to let nature do the work for you. Put the seed into pots and label them. Put them outside in a sheltered spot and put wire mesh over the top to stop rodents digging them up. Keep an eye on them making sure they don’t get too wet or dry. If you want to get going sooner then you could buy small whips of the plants for under a Euro, which would still make for a low cost hedge.

Horicultural.

CITRUS PEEL

Q. Is citrus fruit peel recommended for general composting (not worm bins)? M.McC via E-mail

A. I think that citrus fruit peel is O.K. in small amounts in the compost bin. I tend to put too much in at one go and the worms crawl into the lid to get away from them. I tend to put peel into a paper bag or place them near the fire to dry them out. The peel has natural paraffin in them and they make great firelighters.

Horticultural.

LEADING TREE BRANCHES

SHARED LEADERSHIP
When you are choosing trees make sure they have just one leading branch. A young tree can cope well with two or more leaders but as time goes by they will have problems. The branches will be vulnerable to splitting in windy weather. If you do have a young tree with a couple of main upright branches then one can be cut away. This will allow the remaining branch to go it alone and produce a fine specimen. It’s a good time to look out for the branches now before the leaves come. Don’t worry if the tree looks a bit one-sided for a couple of years after cutting, it will rectify itself soon enough.

Horticultural.

SPRING COLOUR

Photo: Winter flowering Jasmine.

Photo: Daffs at Loreto House,Linsfort.

There’s not much room for any introductory chat this week as things are hotting up in the garden and there’s such a lot to do. If you still think it’s a bit chilly to be out tending your plot you could always plant up a couple of containers to brighten up the doorways of the house. There’s lots of spring colour in the garden centres at the moment.


GET MORE FROM YOUR DAFFODILS
Daffodils are at their best when in large numbers. Fortunately for us, daffodils are very obliging when it comes to dividing their bulbs. The only things that stop a bulb from multiplying are lack of space and nutrients. The bulbs are very busy underground and one of them can form a large clump in a few years given the right conditions. When the flowers begin to fade, dig up and take off the sister bulbs. You might get three or four out of every one. Plant them back into the ground straight away and water them in. Do this every year and you’ll soon have your own daffodil business!

THE FLOWER GARDEN
Winter Jasmine will be making an appearance now. After the flowers have gone, prune the climber back. Cut away any old wood and thin the spindly stems. Tie in fresh shoots onto the supports.

Penstemons can be tidied up and cut back. Be careful not to tread on the new shoots coming up.
Prepare the soil where hardy annuals are going to be sown during March and April.

Plant lily bulbs now for flowering in summer. Choose a free draining spot in full sun and add extra grit to the hole just to be on the safe side. There are a lot of miniature lilies on the market and these would do very well in pots.

Divide clumps of snowdrops now because when the leaves die back you wont be able to find them.

Horticultural.

MARCH IN THE VEGGIE PATCH

Photo: It's time to prune those fruit bushes.

It’s time for me to look at my imaginary vegetable patch. I will have the real thing in a while but for now I will have to pretend that I’m planting things. My back garden is drying out a bit so it won’t be long before I can go out there and build some raised beds and get rid of the old carpets that are keeping the mud from seeping under the door.


If I were in a position to plant something then now would be about the time to put in rhubarb, horseradish, asparagus and artichokes. These are all perennial plants so plant them around the edges of the beds or put them in a clump on their own, that way they won’t be an obstruction when it comes to getting the beds ready for seedlings.

Seed potatoes should be coming out soon, especially early varieties. The seed potatoes tend to get too hot and get soft quickly in the shops. Sometimes the roots have grown and tangled together, so it’s a good idea to get them early, even if it means keeping them in the dark in a cool place for a week or two. It’s better than them spoiling in the shop. Spread them out in a box or cardboard egg box and sprout them in a shed or on a cool windowsill in the house in a few weeks when the ground has warmed up.

SEED SOWING
Start onions from seed in trays or pots later on this month, I personally like the single cell trays as there is no root disturbance when it comes to planting time. Put them in a sunny spot indoors. Keep trimming the tops to about four inches (put them in your soup) and plant them out in March or April.

Here’s something even I can do now as I have some fish boxes. Plant lettuce and radish seed and cover with clear plastic or glass and put in a sunny spot outside. Keep the frost off the plants by covering them with a blanket or something similar if a cold spell sets in.February is the time to prune fruit trees. Cut back old or diseased wood from pear, apple and cherry trees and cut back overlapping branches which will cut out light to the centre of the tree in summer.



Fruit bushes such as grapes, raspberries and blackberries could also be pruned now. Make sure that you use sharp tools for cutting. If you cut cleanly there is no need to use any pruning paint or sealer after the job is done.

Horticultural.

SPRING BULBS

( Click on the title for the Royal Horticultural society website)


CARNDONAGH GARDENING CLUB
I mostly shy away from anything that resembles a club. I suppose the phrase by one of the Marx brothers still rings in my ears about not wanting to join a club that would have me as a member. The last club that I went to was the cub scouts when I was eight. I left after the second week after a tall person with a woggle told me that I had to buy a uniform. Me in a uniform? No way, I was going to wear what everyone else my age was wearing and be different!

When I got to the Wesley hall, thankfully no one was in a uniform. There was a good turn out of about twenty or so people and after a brief introduction where the minutes of the last meeting were mentioned; it was down to business with some seasonal tips. One that I liked was about putting leaves in dustbin liner bags to rot down as compost for next year. The woman that mentioned this stressed that you should always remember where you leave them as she lost hers in the garden last year!

The speakers name was Derek Turbett and he was here to talk to us about spring bulbs and to give us a slide show of the pictures he has taken over the years, which were very professional. I confess I did fall into a daydream a few times during the evening (some people might say that I fell asleep, which I strongly deny!) When Derek started to talk in-depth about daffodils, in which he specialises, I found I drifted off a bit but thankfully I didn’t fall off my seat.

Here are a few topics that Derek covered.

SNOWDROPS AND CROCUS
One of the earliest bulbs to flower are the snowdrops. If you want to have some for the garden you will be better to wait until the beginning of march and approach a friend with some in their garden. When the flowers have gone over, or finished flowering, a clump can be dug out to put in your own garden, the technical term is getting them “in the green”, dig down about six inches, this will stop you chopping into the bulbs. Derek recommended that you didn’t buy the bulbs from garden centres if they have dried up as you wont get good results. Sometimes specialist bulbs are available and you can pay up to 4 euro for a single bulb.

Crocus bulbs will go to seed in April to May and if you are ambitious you can plant the seeds straight away. You have to be patient though as it takes up to four years before a flower appears.



Bluebells are a welcome sight in woodland areas in the spring. Derek told us that he dug some up from a spoil heap a few years ago and has been trying to get rid of them ever since. He has light, sandy soil and they are quickly taking over his garden. An interesting point that I wasn’t aware of is that there are two different types of bluebell, the native one that has the bell flowers on just one side of the stem. The other is a very invasive fast spreading one that originated from Spain; the bells on these stems go all the way around.


DAFFODILS
As I mentioned earlier, Derek is a specialist in daffodils. He is a member of the Northern Ireland daffodil group and has travelled the world with his bulbs. One bulb that he produced is called the Causeway sunset and each bulb costs 80 euro each to buy (if you are interested)! You can’t mass-produce daffodil bulbs, you have to plant a bulb and dig it up the following year and hope that the bulb has divided. The process is then repeated until you have built up a stock. The reason these bulbs are so expensive is because there were only ten to sell. There are 24,000 different daffodil bulbs that are registered (you can read the list if you go on to the R.H.S site). Anyone can grow his or her own unique daffodil. Take the fluffy bit from the centre of a daffodil and use this to tickle inside the flower of another different type of daffodil and wait until the seeds are ripe. Grow the seeds and after four years of waiting patiently you will have a few bulbs that will produce original flowers. The reason for the 24,000 different types is that the slightest difference between a flower, be it a slightly thicker stem or the head tilting a fraction more than another would make it different from any other.

When putting daffodil bulbs into pots for a spring display, they can be put in at different depths and as long as you plant the same variety they will all flower at the same time. The bulbs can be dug up when the leaves have died down to separate the new bulbs. These can be pulled off and replanted.






Horticultural.

WHAT'S NEW

WHATS NEW ON THE MARKET?

Rubber mulch
Recycled rubber mulch will be popular this year, I’m sure. It could take preference over wood bark. Its long lasting, clean and provides a safe play surface for children. The shredded rubber also looks good and keeps the garden low maintenance. There are many different grades of rubber mulch available. One company called Rubbascape produce the 100 per cent recycled rubber product. It's nearly five times heavier than wood mulch, so it stays in place and is good on uneven or wet ground. I am sure it will get a mixed review though as it isn't exactly organic!

Carpet stones
Putting down large areas of paving is time consuming. One product that will really help to save time is carpet stones. Carpet stones are great for building pathways or patios without the time and expense of laying individual stones. The stones are already joined together, to make an easy-to-lay, flexible mat, which can be cut to go around awkward spaces. Lay on a semi-dry mix of sand and cement followed by a dry mix of sand and cement, which should be brushed into the joints for pointing.

To find out more about the carpet stone range visit

MARCH IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN

Photo: Peach blossom.

Outdoor sowings
Crops to sow outdoors or under cloches now include broad beans, beetroots, brussels sprouts, summer cabbages, leeks, lettuces, hardy peas and radishes.

Seed potatoes
Set out seed potatoes in trays and stand in a cool, bright position for shoots to form. Early varieties can be planted in March, but plant main-crop potatoes later in April.

Shallots
Plant shallot sets now, spacing them at 15cm (6in) intervals in rows 30cm (12in) apart. When the conditions have warmed up later this month, onion sets can be planted out into a firm seedbed.

Early blossom
Protect flowers on trained or compact fruit trees on frosty nights. Remove covers in the day for insects to reach the blooms. Hand-pollinate the flowers of peaches and nectarines with a soft brush.

Plant out Jerusalem artichokes. It’s about the time of year to plant the seeds of peas, early carrots, salad onions, beetroot, spinach, cabbage, radish, and turnip. Keep them in a cold frame or greenhouse and protect them from rodents. I lost all my first sowings in one evening when mice got into my cold frame a few years ago

Horticultural.

HORSE MUCK

Hi Ian
I’ve been told horse manure is too strong for growing vegetables, if this is true what is it good for growing apart from mushrooms. Thanks Charlie by e-mail

Reply
Raw horse muck has a reputation for being thrown under rose bushes without rotting down. Adding any type of manure to the soil in its raw state might be a bit too strong for plant roots. It all depends what the muck is mixed with as well. Wood shavings, hay and straw would be present in muck that has been picked up from the stables. Both of these ingredients will rob the soil of nitrogen as they rot down. If the horse muck was well rotted before you added it to the soil, I cannot see any problem with it being too strong, as long as it is mixed in well and not touching the roots. There could be a problem with weed seeds in muck taken from the fields though. Horses don’t seem to process their food very thoroughly and the seeds survive the stomach. I put in well rotted muck into my raised beds last year. I don’t know if I put it too deep, but the vegetable growth was quite poor - horse muck isn’t really that strong when it is rotted down, so maybe I didn’t use enough!

Horticultural.

PROTEA

THE LONGER LASTING FLOWER

I spotted an interesting flower last week in a floral display. It was called a Protea. The flower heads are very similar to thistles and it is said that they last far longer than any other flower head in a display. In their native country of South Africa they are the national flower. Climate wise they probably wouldn’t be suitable for outside here but I’ll bet they could be grown in a greenhouse. The Proteaceae are an ancient family, probably one of the oldest groups of flowering plants. Scientific probes into the early history of plant life have shown that the ancestors of today's Protea were present 300 million years ago. There are some 329 known species of Protea in South Africa. In these areas the flowers are mostly harvested in the wild, though in later years many flower plantations have sprung up for the commercial growing of the flower

Horticultural.