Strawberry Planter

All four of the Gardens will be open for the Easter weekend. Logan, Benmore, Dawyck and the RBGE. Visit one or more and enjoy the plant collection, look out for new plants you can try in your own garden.

This weekend also spend time in your own garden. Now is the time to pot a few strawberry runners. Placed in the greenhouse they will flower and fruit ready for you to pick during Wimbledon week. Alternatively you could try planting up a hanging basket, just remember to water well.

If you have room for a large pot try setting a few chitted potatoes in a bed of soil or compost. When planting, rub out the weakest sprouts, leaving three shoots to grow. As the leafy growth extends add more compost around the stems. This encourages rooting into a fresh layer and the production of more new potatoes on these roots. Traditionally, potatoes are grown in mounded furrows. During the growing season the farmer or grower will mound up the crop to achieve the same effect. That is, more potatoes to dig.

Young Strawberry Plants

The soil is beginning to warm up after the coldest winter since that of 1962 / 63. Now is the time to open the tool shed door and reawaken your growing skills. Mowing and edging the lawn will be a quick win in the race to tidy your green space. Don’t over do it on the first day in the garden; muscles will ache and backs will be sore.