The edge of Summer
GREENER GARDENING IN JUNE
What a difference a few weeks can make, the end of those sneaky frosts, average temperatures creeping higher, the garden and its inhabitants feeling the power of the Sun – it feels like the whole garden is transitioning and moving to a new phase. Ornamental borders are starting to look at their best, foliage still has that zesty freshness and flower buds on the edge of bursting forth. As we edge into Summer, this is the season of flowers, nature celebrating its own beauty with its vast range of floral colours, shapes, and scents.
Join in with the celebrations on hedgerow walks, campion, dog roses, red & white dead- nettles scattered amongst the thickets. It is difficult to create such a natural looking, pastel tapestry in our own gardens. Often the answer is just to back off from our attempts to control and see what happens. Woodland walks can be a cool escape from the hotter days, woodland trees soon in full leaf keeping the ground cool and surprisingly damp. Enjoy the woodland glades, fronds of bracken, flowering brambles, and magenta foxgloves. I often receive a collective, rebellious groan as I suggest passing through these areas of intense secret activity in silence, but the summer woods ‘timelessness’ atmosphere is undeniable.
Back at home in our gardens, unwanted plants will compete for light and nutrients so the best way to stay on top of weeds is to regularly hoe the seedlings, using a sharp hoe to sever the young weeds just below the surface level – on a hot day you can just leave them to shrivel up on the ground. Bigger weeds forked out by hand can be left on the surface of the soil as a temporary mulch or added as a ‘green’ to the compost. Once you start to get excited about the appearance of certain ‘weeds’, it can change your whole relationship with them. Some of the more persistent, tougher weeds can be left submerged in a bucket of water for 4-6 weeks before being added to the compost.
A great plant to tuck away in a difficult corner is comfrey, an organic gardeners best friend. Its leaves are rich with all the essential nutrients. A reliable variety is ‘Bocking 14’, attractive purple flowers for us and beloved by bees, it can eliminate the need to buy expensive fertilisers. Harvest the hairy leaves and pack them into a water-tight container, ideally with a brick on the top to weigh them down, a lid will reduce any stagnant smells. Over a number of weeks, the leaves will break down and release a nutrient rich liquid. This can used, diluted at 1:10 with water for a rich feed for hungry plants. Top up with fresh comfrey leaves and start again.
In the productive garden, I use plastic bottles cut in half for watering the fussy plants. Cut the end off a bottle and sink into the ground, neck first, sometimes a small stick is necessary to keep them up. You can then ensure that you are not wasting water by splashing it away from roots and washing away soil. Also by topping to the same point every time you can ensure the tomatoes are getting the same amount of water regularly to prevent skins from splitting. Tomatoes are one of the few edibles that benefit from the regular, smaller amounts of water, rather than a once weekly decent soak.
The affect and influence of money runs deep in our culture and it is an area where we have direct control and responsibility not only where it is earnt, but also where we spend it. This can be a very powerful message. Small decisions, from using harvested hazel supports for our plants instead of bought plastic canes; to making our own fertilisers versus buying carbon heavy, wildlife destroying chemicals; to shopping locally, can all perpetuate what kind of world we want to live in.
Dartmoor Gardens 