Avoiding Carrot Root Fly

Growing your own carrots is easy and rewarding - nothing beats the sweet taste of freshly lifted young carrots. There are many varieties of all shapes and sizes and all are easy to grow. I grow the 'Early Nantes' variety which is a slender finger length carrot.
The only problem you are likely to encounter is the carrot root fly. The adult flies first lay their eggs in May/June and then lay a second batch in July/August. The eggs hatch to produce small maggots which tunnel into the roots. The adult fly is attracted to the carrots by the smell released from fresh leaves so it is best if you handle the leaves as little as possible. It helps if you don't sow the carrots too thickly so there are fewer seedlings to thin out. 
One way of deterring the adult fly without using chemicals is by interspersing rows of carrots with rows of onions. The smell of the onions allegedly disguises the smell of the carrot leaves. I haven't tried this method as I have limited space to grow root crops in my vegetable patch. So I decided to try a different method. I saw a television programme which featured someone who had previously suffered a lot of problems with carrot root fly and who found a simple chemical free solution. Evidently the flies will fly at a certain height and this person solved the problem by growing their carrots in a barrel about 3 feet tall, above the height at which the adult carrot fly travels.
I have managed to get hold of an old 45 gallon plastic drum which I have filled with soil and planted with carrots. I tried this for the first time last year and had a reasonable crop so I hope to repeat that success this year.

Conserving Water in the Garden

This has been an unusually dry spring and some parts of the country are officially in drought. We all need to think about how we are using water and gardeners can make a real difference by using water wisely. Collecting rainwater is the easiest way to conserve water use in your garden. If you have a water meter it can also save you money. Proprietary rainwater diversion kits, together with rainwater storage butts, can be purchased from most DIY outlets but all sorts of containers can be utilised by the innovative gardener.
I installed my first rainwater butt (pictured) at the rear of the garage a number of years ago. Since then I have installed two others at the front and rear of the house, and two smaller containers collect rainwater runoff from the greenhouse. It's surprising how much water you can save with just a few storage barrels.
Another good way of preventing your garden from drying out excessively is by mulching your borders to reduce water loss, and by adding plenty of humus to your soil, especially if it is very free draining. Home made compost is excellent for this job and it's free, saving you even more money.
If you want to be more creative get advice from a plumber regarding a 'grey' water system. Grey water is what comes out of washing machines, washbasins, showers and baths. It may contain soap and detergent but this can mostly be removed by suitable filters. The objective is to pump this water to a special storage tank where it can then be reused for flushing toilets, washing the car and watering the garden. It's a great idea for water conservation but a bit of an expensive investment for the average gardener.

Oriental Poppies

June is the month that my Oriental Poppy (Papaver Orientale) comes into flower. Oriental Poppies are really spectacular when in flower, the bright scarlet flowers being about 4 inches in diameter.
This is a hardy spreading border perennial which grows to about 2-3 feet tall. There are a number of garden varieties with flower colours ranging from white through to pink and blood red. My plant is a beautiful scarlet red. It's a shame the flowers don't last longer. By the end of June they will all be gone. As the foliage is rather untidy I prefer to cut it back once flowering has finished. Sometimes if the weather is mild enough they will produce a second flush of flowers in the autumn.
Oriental Poppies are happy in ordinary well drained garden soil but need a sunny position. Plant them out in March/April or October. Established plants can be propagated by dividing and replanting the roots in March or April.  

Growing Tomatoes using the Ring Culture Method

Each year I like to grow a few tomatoes. My favourite variety is 'Gardener's Delight' which produces lots of small sweet fruits. This variety can be grown outside as a bush plant but the weather in this part of the country is not really good enough to ensure a decent crop. So I prefer to raise my tomatoes in the greenhouse. Tomatoes are easy to grow under glass, whether grown in the soil border or in growbags or pots. If you use the soil border to grow your tomatoes the soil will need changing after 2-3 years. If you use pots then a richer soil based compost such as John Innes No.3 is required.                   My greenhouse has a solid floor and I don't really like using growbags so I have been using the ring culture method for a number of years and find this gives excellent results. This simple system uses 12 inch diameter bottomless pots (also called rings) which stand on an isolated bed of aggregate such as gravel, crushed stone or pebbles. My aggregate bed is a frame constructed of 6 inch deep wooden planks lined with plastic sheet and filled with small pebbles. Plastic 12 inch diameter rings are placed on the aggregate bed spaced 18 inches apart. These are filled with John Innes No. 3 compost and a bamboo cane is inserted into each ring to train the tomato plants up. After planting water in well and leave for a few days for the plants to root through the compost into the aggregate. Continue to water the compost sparingly for a few weeks followed by watering the aggregate regularly. Once the first couple of flower trusses have set and the fruits have started to swell, a proprietary tomato feed can be watered into the compost on a fortnightly basis. When growing tomatoes up canes or wires as a cordon, make sure any side shoots are removed so the plant's energy is concentrated in the production of the fruits.

Perennial Geraniums

These are hardy perennial plants and should not be confused with the bedding and pot varieties whose correct botanical name is pelargonium.
Herbaceous perennial geraniums (also known as Crane's-bill) are varied in stature and habit. Some are suitable for herbaceous borders or ground cover and others are more suited to rock gardens.
I grow three of the taller geraniums which grow to approximately 18 - 24 inches tall. I have one  maroon, one blue and one white flowered plant. All are attractive to bees but the maroon flowered plant attracts more than the other two. This is a bonus as I didn't realise when I planted them how attractive they would be to the bees.

I also grow Geranium sanguineum (commonly known as bloody Crane's-bill) at the front of the border. This has larger bright magenta flowers and only grows to about 6 - 9 inches tall, but spreads to 18 inches making it a good ground cover plant. Geraniums grow in any ordinary well drained garden soil and will thrive in sun or partial shade. As with most perennials they can be propagated by dividing the plants and replanting them between September and March. Some of the taller varieties may need some support, especially in exposed sites.  

Herbs in Pots

Growing fresh herbs for culinary use is a very satisfying part of gardening. My herbs are grown in individual pots rather than in the main borders. One advantage of this is being able to move the pots into a frost free greenhouse in winter if I want to grow less hardy varieties. The pots can also be placed close to the house so the herbs are handy for the kitchen. At the moment I am growing Mint, Oregano, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Golden Marjoram and Chives in 12 inch pots, with Rosemary, Sage and Hyssop planted in larger containers. All of the above are perennial and hardy. It is worth growing some of the annual herbs as well if you use them regularly.


Last year I visited a herb garden close to where I live. They have a wonderful selection of herbs for sale and I bought a hyssop which has aniseed flavoured leaves. It also has beautiful purple/blue flowers. Planted in a large tub on the patio it is very attractive when in flower with very tasty leaves which I like to chew while pottering around the garden.
Even if you don't use herbs in your cooking they are still worth growing for their scented foliage and often pretty flowers. Some are used in pot pourri and others have medicinal qualities. For anyone interested in herbs and their uses I would recommend reading Culpeper's Complete Herbal & English Physician, a beautifully illustrated book which gives a fascinating insight into the properties and uses of herbs.

Zephirine Drouhin - The Thornless Rose

One of my favourite roses is Zephirine Drouhin, a Bourbon climbing rose. This is an old variety introduced in 1898. It grows to about 9 feet tall and I have it trained up a trellis on the rear wall of the garage. This is a reasonably sheltered but sunny spot and I have underplanted the rose with a Clematis.
The flowers of Zephirine Drouhin are a beautiful deep pink and have a very rich fragrance. The Clematis planted with it is the large single flowered variety 'Niobe' which has dramatic dark red flowers providing a good contrast to the pink roses.
Zephirine Drouhin has thornless stems and is repeat flowering. It can be grown as a climber or kept pruned to be grown as a bush or a hedge. Removing the dead flower heads regularly ensures a succession of blooms from June onwards. My climber has already started to flower in the warm May weather. Very little pruning is required if grown as a climber: just take out any dead wood and remove withered shoot tips. As this rose has thornless stems it is ideal for growing over a rose arch where the wonderful scent can be fully appreciated. This is what I intend to do with my next Zephirine Drouhin.