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Trugg and Barrows garden diary August 2011

July – August, A Time for Maintenance.

July and August can seem like restful months in the garden. Herbaceous displays may be at their peak at this time and warm dry weather will check the progress of weeds in the garden, leaving gardeners with little to do but water, mow and admire their handiwork.
Look closer. The garden might seem to be resting but there are always jobs to be done. July and August can be an important time to undertake maintenance tasks and one of the most beneficial is attending to your roses. A little bit of attention will pay dividends.
The first thing to do is to look at what types of roses are in the garden. This will dictate the sort of attention they need.
Ramblers.
These are amongst the easiest of roses to deal with, if the most intimidating. Sharp downward pointing thorns may help them scramble into trees or over structures but they can be vicious even with the thickest of gloves on.
Most ramblers only flower once. Some such as ‘Kew Gardens’ or ‘Francis E. Lester’ can produce decorative hips but mostly, after one flush, the plant puts all its energies into growth. Normally these roses don’t need pruning but occasionally they get out of bounds by falling away from their supports. Once they have finished flowering they can be cut back hard and left to produce new flowering growth for next year. When faced with a large rambler, why bother with secateurs; reach for the hedge cutter and trim off all excess growth. It may be a shock but won’t do the plant any harm.
Climbers.
These roses lack the vigour of ramblers but many have the advantage of repeat blooming. Even ones advertised as continuous blooming will bear their flowers in flushes with some repeat blooming in between. Dead heading is the name of the game here. Trim back spent blooms to the next stout looking leaf joint or shoot.
Multiple new shoots can develop from the same shoot so it is advisable to thin weak shoots or those that are growing away from the support or cannot be trained in well.
Many people complain that their climbing roses go bare at the bottom. This is the nature of the beast I’m afraid. In evolutionary terms these roses have evolved to grow upward toward the light. Any foliage at the base would be subject to shade and therefore ineffective as the plant develops the woody stem needed to support itself. The answer is to hide this baldness with herbaceous perennials or leafier climbers.
The other alternative is to swap your standard hybrid tea or floribunda climbers for varieties of shrub rose that can be grown as climbers without becoming so bare at the base.
Shrub Roses Old and New.
Shrub roses can be divided into repeat and non-repeat flowering.
Non-repeat flowering types such as ‘William Lobb’ can simply be dead-headed, taking off the spent flower trusses with a quick snip of the secateurs. This ensures that the rose remains tidy for the rest of the year. If, however, the rose produces decorative hips like R. moyesii, leave it well alone and enjoy the extra decoration which can be just as effective as the flowers.
Repeat flowering roses which include hybrid teas, floribundas, shrub roses and the ‘English’ roses need to be dead headed more carefully. Remove spent blooms or trusses to the second or third leaf joint down. The exception is where the rose produces decorative hips AND flowers like R. ‘Frau Dagmar Hastrup’. Then it is up to you whether you sacrifice the hips for more flowers or enjoy the exciting combination of pink flowers and red hips together!
 
In The Kitchen Garden
August is the month when insect numbers seem to reach their peak, both ‘beneficial’ and’bothersome’ ones. There are a lot of hover flies around this year which should be good for those of us gardening along organic principles. Warm dry weather has encouraged, amongst other things, large populations of gladioli thrip which are now busy ruining the flowers of these plants (what a pain). The fascinating Humming bird hawkmoths have been seen in the garden moving from plant to plant searching for high energy nectar that the flowers provide as a reward for spreading pollen.
Many of the apple and pear trees in the garden have set an incredible amount of fruit this year. So much so that, even though the fruits are only partially developed, several branches have snapped off due to the weight. In order to avoid further damage we have carried out fruit thinning in late July, reducing the crop to one fruit per cluster. It is still not too late to do this job if you think your own fruit trees may be in danger of loosing branches in this way.
Summer pruning of apple and pear trees is needed in order to restrict the growth and maintain the form of trained trees such as cordon and espalier. Summer pruning can also be carried out on untrained trees that have become too vigorous. Summer pruning checks root growth and encourages development of fruit buds near to the base of the shoots. Extra light and air is allowed into the tree which ripens wood, encourages well coloured fruit and helps to prevent disease.
In order to carry out this type of pruning, cut back laterals of the current season’s growth that are longer than 12 inches (30 cm) to 3 or 4 buds from the base. For detailed information about fruit tree pruning consult a good book such as The RHS’s The Fruit Garden Displayed.
This month I will be hedge cutting, as well as continuing to keep weeds under control. Keep sowing quick growing crops such as lettuce and carrots, there should still be time to see these reach a usable size this season.
Please note: images have been removed from this pages because some of them may have been used without permission.

The Hodnet & District Garden Club Annual Horticultural Show

Saturday 20th August – open to the public at 2pm

Lyon Hall, Hodnet
Entry: £1.00 includes refreshments
Details are available on the club’s website: www.hodnetanddistrictgardenclub.co.uk
For a PDF copy of the show schedule & entry form please click here. For just the entry form in MS Word format click here.
Other enquirers: contact Kathryn Sutherland on 01952 550869 or email

Hodnet's Speed Camera

Those residents who are concerned about vehicles speeding along the main road through Hodnet will be pleased to hear that, from 1st August 2011, a regime of speed camera enforcement has been agreed.
West Mercia Safer Roads Partnership announced the decision last week, after having undertaken a period of traffic speed monitoring near the school. The results showed that some 64% of vehicles passing the sample point exceeded the 30 MPH limit.
Last Saturday’s Shropshire Star (page 10) carried the news in some detail; but in short agreement has been reached on a suitable location for random visits by a mobile speed camera van, which will be located on Shrewsbury Street.
 

Maynards Farmers Market and Festival Fun Day

Saturday 17th September 10am – 4pm
Maynards Farm Shop, Hough Farm, Weston-Under-Redcastle, SY4 5LR

•    Beer festival
•    Owl display
•    Farmers market
•    Donkeys
•    Dog agility
•    Face painting
•    Village show
Please visit the shop for entry forms & more information
Tel: 01948-840252 email  

Accident closes A442 in Peplow

The A442 in Peplow witnessed another vehicle accident on Wednesday 27th July. Around 11:00pm a car was in collision with a tree approximately 100m north of the entrance to Highway Farm. Several police vehicles, an ambulance and three fire appliances attended the scene. One person had to be released from the vehicle using hydraulic cutting equipment. They were taken to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford as a precaution.
The vehicle was removed from the scene and the road reopened about 12:45am on Thursday morning.

Hodnet School Summer Fete

Saturday 16 July, 11 am – 2 pm

Hodnet Summer Fete 2011

BBQ , Bar, Stalls, Teas and Cakes, Ice Cream
Prize raffle.
Fair opens with children’s dances on Best of British theme.
Come and see the Helicopter land and take off during the event and have a look around the Hodnet fire engine!
Enter the competitions: Bring along a Best of British Flag, A4 size; enter your ‘Best Dressed Cupcake,’ or a photo/picture of ‘Me and My Pet.’
Entry by donation. All proceeds to Hodnet PTA, including outdoor learning project.
Please come and support your local school.
Contact;

Headteacher
Mrs C Gardner

Address
Shrewsbury Street, Hodnet
Market Drayton
TF9 3NS

Tel.
01630 685300

Trugg and Barrows Garden Diary July 2011

“Summer has set in with its usual severity.” S .Coleridge

Daylilies – Flowers of the Moment

It is no exaggeration to say that Daylilies are one of the premier flowering perennials. From only a handful of wild species belonging to the genus Hemerocallis, breeders have produced tens of thousands of hybrids in a dazzling array of colours, patterns, and shapes. Adding to their appeal is their hardiness, ease of care and propagation and ability to combine so well with other plants. And many are at their best right now!
Daylilies had been cultivated for thousands of years in China before being discovered by the west where they were valued as much for utilitarian purposes, as a food and medicinal plant, as for their beauty. Indeed almost all parts of the plant are edible except the leaves and flower stalks. The petals or whole flowers make excellent additions to salads.
Although species such as H. altissima (which flowers at 6ft with wonderful buttery yellow petals that fade to a soft apricot) are beautiful in their own right it is the modern hybrids that are so renowned.
Hybridising is especially popular in America where daylilies are known as ‘poor man’s orchids’ because of their exotic looks and the ease with which hybrids can be produced, making daylily hybridising a popular amateur hobby. Because of the proliferation of varieties, those who want to try this for themselves should do a little research first and make sure the varieties they want to cross are not tetraploids with double the number of chromosomes (44 instead of 22) as these do not produce viable seed easily.
Daylilies are amongst the easiest plants to cultivate in gardens and can survive in practically any climate except the very warmest so no worries there then! Daylilies will grow best in full sun although part or dappled shade will do. Indeed plants with the darkest flowers are better in full sun as the colour will intensify.
to planting, preparing the soil with a little organic matter will be beneficial. Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the root system and tubers. A spade or two of well-rotted manure at the bottom is as good as anything and plants will feed from it for years and require very little in the way of supplementary nourishment. Moist but well drained soil is best although plants will adapt to all but the driest or most waterlogged soils.
Daylilies are amongst the most trouble-free of garden perennials but it is worth knowing about the most common pests or diseases. Daylily rust, a coppery orange powdery substance, can disfigure leaves but it usually does not persist. It can be treated with a systemic fungicide.
A new pest and one that has reached Shropshire this season is Hemerocallis gall midge. The tiny white fly deposits its eggs on young flowers where the larvae eat the developing flowers causing them to distort and drop off. There is nothing to do but pick off the affected buds and burn them.
Daylilies are also amongst the easiest plants to propagate in the garden. Simple division with a sharp spade when dormant will suffice. What many people don’t know, or often encounter, are small plantlets that are sometimes produced on the flowering stem. These don’t always form roots except in a wet summer but they can be detached towards the end of the summer, before autumn, and put in a glass of water. Treated like a cutting they will be a copy of the mother plant.
By and large all daylilies experience some level of dormancy whether they are completely deciduous or only lose some of their foliage. The removal of old foliage in late winter will keep the plant healthy and prevent diseases or pests from re-infecting plants when the new growth emerges.
In the Vegetable garden
“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating your own home grown veg” Lewis Grizzard
Well, hopefully by now you are enjoying the fruits of your labour whilst wallowing in pleasant thoughts. As with many things there is always something to cast a shadow, we are just coming into potato blight season so I thought it may be worth while talking about it this month.
Infection of potatoes by blight (Phytophthora infestans) seems to be inevitable in this part of Shropshire, even with blight resistant cultivars (unless the crop is sprayed to prevent it). A method for dealing with the problem (without the use of chemicals) is to cut the haulms (top green growth) down to ground level at the very first signs of infection, and remove and destroy the foliage . This prevents the fungus spores from being washed into the soil down to the tubers, and stops the tubers from being spoiled.
As with all things prevention is better than cure, although some of this advice is too late for this year, if you can follow these measures infection may be avoided:-

  • Use only certified seed.
  • Rotate crops, try to leave a gap of at least 3 years before planting potatoes in the same plot.
  • Try to harvest every tuber and destroy any infected ones. If shoots appear from previous crops then remove them immediately with the tuber if possible, as any carried-over infection will arise from the leaves.
  • Avoid overhead watering which washes spores down into the soil, and earth up well to protect the tubers.
  • Planting early or second early varieties may mean that they will be mature enough to harvest before the ‘infection season’.
  • Plant resistant cultivars such as King Edwards, and avoid cultivars such as Maris Piper and Desiree which are very susceptible.
  • Be vigilant, checking the crop at least daily when the risk is high during July and August, as the disease can appear overnight. Either dig up the tubers straight away or cut the haulms back as described above.
  • There are also chemicals that can be used as a protectant or curative.

This month keep on sowing small batches of fast growing crops such as carrots, lettuce and radish. A few of you have mentioned to me about lower than normal yields on some of your soft fruit. I think that this is down to the lack of decent amounts of rain we have been experiencing since April, disappointing, but just one of those things we have to live with.
Please note: images have been removed from this pages because some of them may have been used without permission.

Wollerton URC Treasure Hunt 2011

Treasure hunters enjoy tea together
One of the hottest days of the year (Sunday 26th June) saw approximately fifteen carloads of local residents and friends set off on the annual car treasure hunt ably organised by Rachel Harrington and her team. This year’s route took those who followed it successfully through Hodnet, Peplow, Great Bolas, Ercall Heath, Howle, Childs Ercall and Stoke-on-Tern before returning to Wollerton Bowling Club for a hard-earned buffet tea.
As ever, the well-designed cryptic clues left some participants going round in circles well off the intended route. It was possible to collect 136 points through a combination of correct answers, right mileage and acquiring six “treasures”. Whilst some teams struggled to get anywhere near this total, the winning team scored 106, closely followed by second place with 99 and third with 95.
Well done to everyone who took part, newcomers as well as old hands.

Glow-worm hunters' late night rewarded

After the recent Hodnet Footpaths Group meeting on 23rd June, Niall Gallivan motivated an expedition to the disused railway track to look for Hodnet’s glow-worm colony. The group consisted of some members of the Footpaths Group along with family and friends, and was led by Wendy Roberts (and her faithful jogging companion Maggie May) who has helped Shropshire Countryside staff to monitor glow-worms numbers in this area for some years.
The colony is found along the old railway track in the section north-east of Station Road. It was a cold breezy night and the sun did not set until 10.30. In spite of the fears that it might be too cold or too light for us to see anything, patience was rewarded and 6 glowing females were spotted by members of the group. Unfortunately they were low down in the grass, which made photographing them even more difficult.
Female glow-worms only display in this way during the mating season from mid June to mid July. For more information, see our wild-life page here, or the glow-worm website at www.glowworms.org.uk where you can find much better pictures than these!

Without a flash a shaky glow was the best result
With a flash the dark patch in the centre was all that showed