GARDENING: Time to get out from under the covers

BY JOYCE RUSSELL

IT HAS been a struggle to work around the weather and some things may be a little delayed.

If you have a polytunnel or greenhouse then you will be thankful for all that a covered structure allows. Covered planting is progressing much the same as any year – soil moisture can be controlled and it is mostly about watering as needed rather than trying to dry wet soil out.

Don’t worry too much about outdoor planting – early sowings may stall a little as they wait for the right moment to be planted out, but they will take off and grow well as soon as they get the room for roots to spread out. I have taken to covering beds with waterproof cloches and covers so the soil is a little drier underneath. Plants may not need the extra heat but opening covers a little helps to keep things cool and soil is more workable than in uncovered areas.

In the greenhouse

Delicious mange-tout. (Photos: Ben Russell)

Mange-tout peas sown last autumn should be cropping now. Enjoy the delicious sweet pods as one of the earliest treats. There will be many more crops to come, of course, but the first pods are always the best of the year. Keep soil damp and pick pods before they swell too big – this will keep plants cropping for several weeks.

Keep an eye on small plants being raised with added heat. They need protection from cold winds and they need to be hardened off a little by dropping temperatures down over a week or 10 days. Tomato plants and courgettes will be ready to go out into the greenhouse beds soon, so you need to be sure they are acclimatised down to 10C (15-20C is perfect for tomatoes but temperatures aren’t always this obliging).

Make sure to prepare the bed for planting tomatoes out. The soil should be enriched with compost, seaweed or manure (or a combination of all three). Make sure there is a support for each plant and water well so the soil is wet right down to the subsoil. Plants won’t go into the borders until the end of April, but all should be ready and waiting for the right moment.

Time to sow

Pumpkins can be started in pots of good compost at 20C. These plants grow fast, so give each one a 20cm pot if you can.

Sweetcorn needs the same temperature as pumpkins, but use root-trainers and sow one seed per section.

Broccoli and kale don’t need extra heat. These germinate best if they are kept at 10-15C.

Beans and peas of all kinds can do very well from a late April sowing. Runner beans and climbing French beans sown now can keep you eating well into autumn.

Sow fennel if you like this vegetable. Plants tend to come ready at the same time, so make two staggered sowings to spread the cropping time out.

Time to plant

Spring-sown sweet peas can be planted out when they are 20cm tall. Provide a good support frame with plenty of small supports, like netting or twiggy branches, that tendrils can curl around.

Beetroot that was sown in cells will be ready to plant out when 8-10cm tall.

Leek plants will still be quite small. Prick them out into a deeper pot or tub and allow 3-4cm between each one. This allows tiny shoots to grow into strong small plants.

Maincrop potatoes should be in the ground now.

Remember French marigolds!

Marigolds are excellent companion plants for tomatoes – they help repel pests and they look beautiful edging the paths in a polytunnel. The petals are edible and make a bold, and slightly pungent, addition to summer salads.

Sow seed if you haven’t already or look out for trays of these plants in garden centres. Scatter seed thinly on the top of a tray and just barely cover with potting compost. If you bury seed too deep it will rot. Water lightly and cover the tray with clear polythene. Keep out of hot sun and don’t let the compost dry out. Seedlings can be slow to emerge, but I find that home-raised plants are often hardier and grow bigger than bought root-bound ones.

Bluebell time

The exact time of bluebells opening can vary each year, but something should be stirring by the end of April. These lovely spring flowers look great under trees and a carpet of bluebells is quite a thing to see. If you want to grow bluebells, please don’t rush out and start digging up wild plants. You can buy and plant bulbs in the autumn, or scatter seeds at that time. Best of all, is to divide any clump you already have – do this when flowering is finished and plants are still ‘in the green,’ which means they have plenty of green leaves.