Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
TREE PRUNING
How not to prune a tree! It isn't just a case of lopping off branches. There is always an inner canopy to see in a tree. Below is an example of how to do it. Patrick McCartney from Buncrana stands back and takes his time when pruning.
This tree was pruned the day before this photo was taken. Not bad eh?A STROLL IN THE GARDEN -PADDY MCCARTNEY WEEK 3
Shallow rooted carrot varieties are ideal if you don't want to get the spade out.Paddy McCartney from Greencastle is very multi faceted in the garden and to guarantee the pollination of his fruit, vegetables and flowers he keeps two beehives.
BEE KEEPING
Tell us a bit about the bees you keep
I have kept bees for years and I couldn’t imagine the garden without them. The bees work hard in my own garden. Also in early summer the bees go down the hill to collect nectar from wild flowers and in the late summer they go up the hill to the heather beds as well. When I work in the garden the hives are behind a six-foot hedge. This stops them from flying into me as by the time they have flown over the hedge they are well above head height.
Do you get much honey?
We get enough for ourselves and a few friends. I collect the honey once a year. I only have two hives so we don’t really produce on a commercial level!
What does the smoke do when it is blown into the hives?
Smoking the bees helps the keeper to harvest the honey safely. When the bees smell the smoke they think there is a fire. Then they gorge themselves to save their food. This makes them drowsy and harmless.
Are they dangerous?
Only when provoked! If you agitate one of them, then all of the other bees come over and have a go at the enemy! This thankfully doesn’t happen often
Top gardening tip?
If you have raspberries growing you might need to support them. If you put up a wire net, don’t put the wire right down to the floor. That way you can still get to the weeds around the base of the plant.
Have you any plans for the future?
I will be introducing more raised beds into the garden. I have them already for the vegetables and I would like to grow flowers that way too. As I get older I am less agile and raised beds are really handy to sit on and work with the plants and soil. I might even de-commission some of the garden and turn it over to members of the annual courses so they can look after it as part of their course.
Thanks to Paddy for his pearls of wisdom over the last three weeks!
BEE KEEPING
Tell us a bit about the bees you keep
I have kept bees for years and I couldn’t imagine the garden without them. The bees work hard in my own garden. Also in early summer the bees go down the hill to collect nectar from wild flowers and in the late summer they go up the hill to the heather beds as well. When I work in the garden the hives are behind a six-foot hedge. This stops them from flying into me as by the time they have flown over the hedge they are well above head height.
Do you get much honey?
We get enough for ourselves and a few friends. I collect the honey once a year. I only have two hives so we don’t really produce on a commercial level!
What does the smoke do when it is blown into the hives?
Smoking the bees helps the keeper to harvest the honey safely. When the bees smell the smoke they think there is a fire. Then they gorge themselves to save their food. This makes them drowsy and harmless.
Are they dangerous?
Only when provoked! If you agitate one of them, then all of the other bees come over and have a go at the enemy! This thankfully doesn’t happen often
Top gardening tip?
If you have raspberries growing you might need to support them. If you put up a wire net, don’t put the wire right down to the floor. That way you can still get to the weeds around the base of the plant.
Have you any plans for the future?
I will be introducing more raised beds into the garden. I have them already for the vegetables and I would like to grow flowers that way too. As I get older I am less agile and raised beds are really handy to sit on and work with the plants and soil. I might even de-commission some of the garden and turn it over to members of the annual courses so they can look after it as part of their course.
Thanks to Paddy for his pearls of wisdom over the last three weeks!
Horticultural.
Sunday, 14 October 2007
HOOPERS LAW
I have just bought a site for a new house and it has a hedge surrounding it. I would like to keep it and improve the look of it. I would be interested to find out how old the original hedge is. I have heard that you can assess the age of hedges by counting the species in it, how does this work. Thanks D.K. By e-mail
Using a method called Hooper’s Law can age hedges quite accurately. This mathematical theory is based upon the number of woody species found in a 30m (100 ft.) length of hedge. Dr Hooper tested hedges of known age from old maps; he found that the number of species multiplied by 100 roughly equals the age of the hedge. However at least 3 random samples should be taken and an average calculated. It seems to be too simplistic to work but the theory has been proved accurate time and time again.
Horticultural.
Saturday, 13 October 2007
TOP TIPS
FRUIT TREES
Pick apples as soon as they are ripe, remembering that some varieties can be eaten straight from the tree, while others are best left for a time, stored in a cool place to reach their peak of perfection. Trap female winter moths as they climb up fruit trees to find a crevice to over-winter in by tightly wrapping grease bands around stems and greasing tree stakes.
Money saving tip: Container grown spring bulbs are better off without too much fertilizer so use a cheap compost and then feed after flowering
Time saving tip: This is the time to dig over the vegetable plot. Instead of clearing the old leaves to the compost heap, dig a trench and bury them. They will soon rot down and you have done the digging as well.
Pick apples as soon as they are ripe, remembering that some varieties can be eaten straight from the tree, while others are best left for a time, stored in a cool place to reach their peak of perfection. Trap female winter moths as they climb up fruit trees to find a crevice to over-winter in by tightly wrapping grease bands around stems and greasing tree stakes.
Money saving tip: Container grown spring bulbs are better off without too much fertilizer so use a cheap compost and then feed after flowering
Time saving tip: This is the time to dig over the vegetable plot. Instead of clearing the old leaves to the compost heap, dig a trench and bury them. They will soon rot down and you have done the digging as well.
WINTER SALAD PLANTS M-P
More winter salad plants that we can all grow in the garden.
Montia sibirica. Pink purslane is a short-lived perennial, but it self-sows freely and maintains itself so well that it can be used as a ground cover plant. Only about 10cm tall, it is evergreen and both the leaves and flowers can be eaten. It has a fairly bland flavour, though it becomes somewhat bitter in hot dry weather. M. perfoliata, the miner's lettuce, is an annual that self-sows freely and is also usually available all through the winter. Both of these plants are extremely hardy, they are native to Alaska and Siberia where they can be harvested from under the snow even in the depths of winter.
Myrrhis odorata. Our native Sweet Cicely has a delightful aniseed flavour and it goes very well as flavouring in a mixed salad. It dies down in early winter but if you are lucky you can start picking it again in early February. The seed is said to have a short viability and is best sown as soon as it is ripe. A well-grown plant is about 1 metre tall and wide.
Peltaria alliacea. A very easily grown plant, it has a rather strong garlic/mustard flavour that some people adore in salads. It becomes much more bitter in the summer. An evergreen herb about 10cm tall it spreads freely once established.
Horticultural.
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