THE HEAT IS ON

In spring the interior of greenhouses can heat up fast, causing young plants to go thirsty if you are not careful but Hartley Botanic, makers of heritage greenhouses, have got lots of good advice on how to prevent plants from becoming stressed.

They suggest mulching pots with bark or gravel to help conserve moisture and they also advise creating a circular ridge of soil around the base of plants growing in greenhouse borders to prevent water from running off.

Damping down the floor on hot days can raise humidity levels and giving plants a thorough soak, instead of just a light sprinkle, will help to promote healthier root systems.

To check if plants need watering, then stick a finger into the compost or pick up the pot - if it feels light then it needs water.

More tips are available at www.hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/

TOP TIP
Sow peas in drainpipes that have been cut in half and, once they have germinated, simply slide the whole row into a drill in the vegetable patch.

WHAT TO DO NOW

  • Cut down the stems of dogwoods, willows and the white-stemmed bramble, Rubus cockburnianus, to promote fresh growth that will provide vivid colour next winter.
  • Sow lettuce seed in modules to prevent pricking out as lettuce seedlings resent disturbance. Keep at 10-18C in a bright position and grow on in a cool greenhouse for six weeks before hardening off and planting out under fleece or cloches.
  • Prepare a strawberry patch by digging well-rotted manure into the soil. Pinch off all flowers in the first year to ensure a good crop in the second year and remove any runners.
  • Set bait traps for slugs using cabbage leaves and containers filled with beer. Dig over the soil around plants and in the vegetable patch to expose slugs to frogs and thrushes.
  • Protect camellia buds and flowers with fleece if frost is forecast and deadhead winter bedding to keep plants flowering.
  • Cut back perennial stems left standing over the winter before the new shoots start to emerge. Divide congested clumps and replant young sections in fresh soil.
  • Sprinkle slow-release fertiliser around roses to boost flowering and to help plants to resist disease. Rose fertiliser will also give a boost to flowering shrubs.
  • Chit potatoes by placing them in a warm, bright spot until they start to shoot  then sow 10m deep, earthing them up once the shoots are 20cm tall.
  • Sow chillies and sweet peppers in a heated propagator for better germination.
  • Prune Hydrangea macrophylla by removing old flowerheads and cutting back to the first pair of buds. Cut out completely some of the oldest stems to promote fresh growth.
  • Plant lily bulbs in containers or in the ground for fragrant summer flowers. Divide clumps of snowdrops when the flowers start to fade.
  • Hoe off annual weeds as they start to emerge and dig out perennial weeds while they are still small.
  • Cover seedbeds with fleece or polythene to warm the soil in preparation for sowing seed next month.
  • Rake lawns with a spring-tine rake to remove moss and thatch.
  • Sow sweet peas in tall pots, moving them to a cool greenhouse within a few days of germination. Pinch out seedlings if they start to become leggy.