Marching Into Spring

Its funny how you suddenly smell a different season in the air, today that happened for me. We have had a break in the continuous rain, the sun has a bit more power in it, and the day length is becoming more noticeable. There is still a slight nip in the air, but the fruit buds on the plum trees are starting to swell, indicating the change of season.

In the garden, we decided to prune all our shrubs in preparation for the start of growth, and for the first time mowed the lawn, which is starting to actively grow.

On the nursery, we have had a very busy week, despatching plants to our wholesale customers in preparation for mothering Sunday, which falls on the 15 th March, ( don’t forget if applicable), and the trade as ever, has left it all to the last minute. This week we have been despatching our spring breaks, which are a collection of three plants in a pot, Ranunculus, and viola.

After this week, we have to start the tidy up, to get the glasshouses ready for the spring cropping. We have just about potted the hardy perennials for the year, this week, we potted Lavendula Blue Spear, you can already smell the lavender oil when you touch the leaves, it is so pungent, and Penstemon.

The other hardy perennials are really starting to grow well, the Digitalis, ( Foxglove ) have filled the pot, you can almost see them preparing to lurch upwards towards forming a flowering spike. Other plants starting to establish well are the Lupins, Dianthus, and Delphiniums. I think the Delphiniums are some of the best I have ever seen, so I expect they will do well in the coming weeks.

Also completed this week are our veg plants. We have sown courgette, and French climbing bean, which are my favourite vegetable that I think rivals Asparagus in taste and texture. These are suitable for growing under glass, just string them, tie the string to the base of the plant, and they will climb up without you having to do any more. They also don’t have any trouble with pollination, so you soon get clumps of green beans to eat.

We also sowed Runner Beans, and Pumpkins, the variety is Atlantic Giant, so you can imagine what the mature fruit looks like. On the heated floor, we have the first Chilli peppers growing, Aubergines, and a range of tomatoes that are bouncing along. In the sun light, you can almost see the plants moving towards the sun.

With regards to our environmental credentials, we do use an electric boiler to heat hot water, and during the day, we have solar panels on the roof to supply electricity to run the boiler. We export the surplus energy to the grid, and then pay for it to be supplied back to us at night when the panels lie dormant. For most of the year, these panels have taken much of the sting out of the electric bills, so it would seem to be a worthwhile investment.

Next week, we are making a start on potting the annual bedding plants. One of the first plants in will be Cosmos. Six years ago, I hadn’t a clue what these were, but were advised to have a go at growing them. They are stunning. They will be flowering in May, and they just keep going through to the first frosts. As ever, maintenance work would be to dead head, and feed a little and often. You will be rewarded with a beautiful show of colour. I love them in our garden, and so do the Bees.

We will also make a start with potting the Argyranthemum, Rudbeckia, and our strawberry plants. We plant this crop in two batches, growing a total of about 5,000 plants. People use them as bedding plants, basket plants and patio plants. Its rather a nice idea, you just leave them to grow on the patio, then you can just pick the fruit and eat, perhaps while enjoying a drink on the patio.

When growing commercially under glass, we do rely on the concept of limiting factors, to get the best growth rates out of our plants. We do have increasing light levels, but the temperatures can be quite low, particularly at night. So we tend to make sure the vents are lowered, to minimise heat loss from the glasshouse. We also feed with a relatively high nitrogen feed, but at low levels and frequently. Most humans need three meals a day, I tend to make sure the plants have a regular feed, so that when they grow, there is nothing to check their progress.

Spacing is also a major consideration. A plant will grow into any space you give it, the more space there is, the bigger the plant will be. As commercial growers, we are looking for a balanced plant, with a flower on top. We don’t want it to be instable, so it shouldn’t be too tall, and it does want to have flower on it. To some extent, we can manipulate the flowering response by providing a high potassium feed. This restricts the amount of vegetative growth, and allows the plant to develop flower bud. It is the flower bud that sells the plant, particularly to the trade.

I have been doing this for many years, you just tend to have a feel for which fertiliser to use and when. Luckily more has gone right than wrong over the years. My father started the nursery in 1957, and we are still here, still producing a wide range of plants.

I hope you have a productive March in your gardens, planting summer bulbs and tubers, sowing hardy annuals, and sub dividing your hardy perennials where they have become too large. Apply the green manure to the beds so that the earthworms can help incorporate it into the soil profile. The main thing is to enjoy your time in the garden, so you make the most of its therapeutic powers. Hopefully you will find a bit of time to look at our web site, and order something that might tickle your fancy.

Thank you for reading this blog,

Kind regards, Tony Rowland.