News - Page 10
Ireland is celebrating the 30th annual Daffodil Day this Friday, 24 March – so get involved and do your bit to fight cancer. You can join thousands of volunteers around Ireland selling daffodil pins and flowers, or enjoy some of the many national and local events raising money for the Irish Cancer Society.
Annual Daffodil Day
Daffodil Days started in Canada 60 years ago and quickly caught on around the world. The da...
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Plant Asiatic lilies now for a fabulously exotic display later this summer. Asiatic lilies are among the easiest lilies to grow, and certainly the most spectacular. They tend to flower a little earlier than other lilies and include brilliantly coloured varieties in shades of copper, pink, deepest purple and pure white. For even more wow factor there are also two-tone and double types. Come over to the garden centre in Youghal and browse through our...
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Sow beetroot for delicious early crops within a few weeks’ time. Beetroot are among the quickest and easiest of veg to get going in spring, and are just as happy in a roomy container as in the ground.
Sow Beetroot
Varieties include traditional purple ‘Boltardy’ and unusual striped heritage variety ‘Chioggia’, but there are lots more, including golden ones which don’t ‘bleed’: browse the seed racks here at the garden c...
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Clear green manure crops planted last autumn to cover soil over winter, like winter tares, field beans, or winter rye. These useful cover crops are invaluable in the veg garden, where they break up heavy soil and add nutrients to benefit your veg throughout the season.
Useful cover crops
About four weeks before you need the area for growing, get to work clearing them away to make room for your veg. Shear off the top growth close to the ground, and ca...
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Plant gladioli corms in containers to grow on under cover in a cool greenhouse or conservatory for the earliest possible displays of showy blooms this summer.
Gladioli
lads are bang on trend right now, with seductive new varieties in shades of deepest purple, magenta pink or pure white to choose from. Growing them in containers is ideal if you have a patio to fill, or if your soil is on the heavy side, as they prefer drier, free-draining conditions.<<span class=more>...
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March is such an exciting month! There are seeds to sow, new plants to choose, and spring to enjoy. Here are a few of the jobs you can get on with this month:
General tasks:
- Get flower beds ready for the year ahead by scattering general fertiliser between plants and mulching with well-rotted manure or soil improver.
- Treat lawns for moss by applying moss killer, available from our garden centre here in Youghal.
- Wait a few weeks...
Keep on top of weeds right from the start and you’ll not only make your garden look better – you’ll have fewer problems later in the year, since you’ll deny them the chance to seed around and spread.
Keep on top of Weeds
Hoe off annual weeds regularly – once a week is ideal – choosing a dry, sunny day wherever possible so the chopped-off weeds shrivel on the soil. Weeds that are not in flower or bearing seeds make great c...
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The search is on for Ireland’s top amateur garden designers – and if you’ve got what it takes you could end up showcasing your talents on prime time TV!
Ireland's top amateur garden designers
RTE’s Super Garden is now in its ninth year and is looking for start-up landscapers, amateur gardeners or horticulture students to take part. The show follows five emerging garden designers as they compete for the honour of having their show garden exhib...
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Prune summer flowering clematis now – those big, showy stars of the season which take your breath away scrambling up a trellis or twining romantically around a climbing rose.
Prune Clematis
By now just a big tangle of brown stems remains of last year’s growth. Leave these in place and you’ll just get a lot of flowers at the top of the plant, with an unsightly mass of bare stems at the base.
Keep your summer-flowering cle...
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Install raised beds in the garden now and they’ll be primed and ready to plant once the season gets under way next month. Raised beds are great for vegetables but are also ideal for herbs and cut flowers.
Rasied Bed Gardening
They’re good for your plants, too. They hold all the nutrients in place, making the soil so rich you can really pack them to overflowing. And you’ll easily be able to reach into the centre without tre...
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